OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) – A 62-year-old metro man says he almost died while waiting on unemployment benefits.
“I don’t deserve to die for something I have no control over,” said Douglas McDonald.
McDonald is now out of the hospital, recovering. He says he has diabetes and a heart condition.
He went into a diabetic coma because he couldn’t afford his insulin.
“I’m to the point of just giving up,” said McDonald.
He’s been furloughed from his job parking cars for the Chesapeake Energy Arena and Civic Center because of COVID-19. Now, he’s waiting on unemployment benefits to come in.
“I get 41 dollars a month from the state and that’s basically what I’ve been living on. I don’t have any food, I don’t have any transportation to go to a food bank,” said McDonald.
He says he has no family and nowhere else to turn.
“In a period of about five months, I lost my mother, two brothers and my sister,” said McDonald.
He’s been waiting on the Oklahoma Employment Security Commission to process his claim for months.
“Every time you call, well, it’s been elevated to critical. A supervisor will call you, nobody wants to help,” said McDonald.
He says he even tried contacting the governor’s office, but no one returned his calls.
While he waits, McDonald says he was given enough insulin to make it through May, but his medicine is quickly running out.
“I go day to day. The only thing that’s kept me going is my faith,” he said.
