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'He didn't want me to see': Mum finds son's heartbreaking letter to Santa

A doting mother has revealed the heartbreaking letter to Santa her son wrote asking for medicine and inhalers after he spent years witnessing his parents struggling to afford his medical needs.

Loren McCormac sat down with her 10-year-old son, Kline, on December 13 and asked him to write his annual letter to Santa.

Trying to hide his letter from his mother, Kline quickly sealed it before she could look and rushed it out to their mailbox in Truckee, California.

Worried as to why her son was being so secretive, Ms McCormac, 44, asked her husband, Dennis, 47, to get it from the mailbox so she could read it.

Heartbroken, Ms McCormac read how her son had asked Santa for medicine and inhalers as his Christmas present and knew it must have been due to the years he had seen his parents struggling to afford the $A2681 monthly medical bill.

Kline's letter to Santa asking for medical supplies to help his parents. Source: Caters
Kline's letter to Santa asking for medical supplies to help his parents. Source: Caters

Now, the facilities technician has shared her son’s letter to show others the harsh reality of privatised healthcare in America.

"I knew my son had written something he didn't want me to see because he was covering the letter up and sealed it before I could look,” Ms McCormac said.

"Curious, I had my husband get it out of the mailbox when Kline went to sleep so that I could read it and it was very upsetting on a lot of levels.

"The fact he asked and knew it would help us out financially upset us, but also the fact we are not the only family in the US affected by our terrible health care system.

"Also I feel terrible that he has obviously seen how stressed we are because of his medical expenses, but I guess we aren't great at sugar coating it."

After being diagnosed with anaphylactic food allergies, asthma and red skin syndrome, the cost to cater for Kline's medical bills started to climb.

Loren McCormac was heartbroken when she found Kline's letter to Santa. Source: Caters
Loren McCormac was heartbroken when she found Kline's letter to Santa. Source: Caters

"Because of his different health conditions, Kline needs a lot of different medicines to keep himself well,” Ms McCormac said.

"He uses cromolyn sodium which costs up to ($A1303) through insurance, asthma inhalers which are up to ($A100) each and a ($A290) epi-pen.

"Alongside that, we also pay a monthly insurance bill of ($A1000).”

Ms McCormac said with the cost of insurance, alongside the cost of his medication. she was easily spending a whole pay check per month.

"Financially this is a massive stress on us, and something that Kline has witnessed – he has even seen me break down into tears in the pharmacy,” she said.

"Kline once said to me that we would actually have a 'good amount of money' if it wasn't for his medication, and that broke my heart – but to see these necessities on his letter to Santa just killed me.

"I hope that by sharing Kline's story people will start to realise just how expensive the American healthcare system is – because no little boy should have to be receiving medicine as a Christmas present."

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