CAN-DO & Dr. Sanjay Gupta Rush Lifesaving Medication to U.S. Veteran in Puerto Rico

Sometimes the universe drops a moment in your lap that reminds you exactly why we do this work. Last night was one of those moments.

CAN-DO's Eric Klein got a call from a woman named Kerryanna. Her voice carried that tone you never forget — urgency mixed with fear. She told us her family member in Puerto Rico, a U.S. military veteran named José, wasn’t going to make it through the night without insulin. He’d already been without it for days. To make things worse, his wife, Debra, is also diabetic. They hadn’t had access to food or clean water since the hurricane hit. They were surviving by drinking rainwater off their roof. Let that sink in.

This is not a remote village on the other side of the world. This is an American veteran and his wife, less than an hour outside of San Juan, left completely on their own. But here’s the part that shows what happens when real people — not bureaucracy, not red tape — decide to move.

Within three hours of that phone call, and thanks to the quick action of CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Danielle Dellorto, Eddie Stutz, and Michelle Rosa, life-saving insulin was in José’s hands. Food and clean water were delivered. Michelle and Eddie drove straight to their home without a single roadblock. The roads were clear. It was possible. It just wasn’t being done.

This win belongs to every person who believes that disaster relief should actually relieve something. But it also forces us to face the bigger, darker truth: The disaster relief system is failing.

Puerto Rico isn’t an isolated example. Seven weeks after the hurricane, we’re seeing the same heartbreaking scenarios all over Texas — people who are sick, stranded, and overlooked while billions in relief funding remain tied up in red tape.

It shouldn’t take a chain of personal calls and volunteers to save the life of a U.S. veteran. It shouldn’t be this hard to get water to a diabetic couple. And yet here we are.

This is why CAN-DO does what it does — because when the system doesn’t show up, people still need to eat. People still need medicine. People still need to live.

A huge THANK YOU to everyone who helped make last night happen.