Today, my son should have celebrated his 21st birthday. But he’s dead, killed in part by our profit-driven health care system.

When he needed help, he sometimes got it. But not often enough, and not for long enough. To our health insurance industry and providers, it made more business sense to let a young man die than to let their profit margins dip a tiny amount.

When Aetna had a choice between making more money, or providing care to one of their insured people, Aetna chose to deny care, thus helping to kill my son. May the people responsible for this burn in Hell. And if I wind up there too, may I be allowed to pitchfork more brimstone onto their fires.

We will never stop loving our son. And we will never forget, and never forgive, the profit-hungry motherfuckers who have helped to deny us his presence on what should have been a day of celebration.