David Chapman suffered a stroke in the U.S. and has been refused health coverage in his home province. (CBC)

The family of a B.C. man who fought for his life in a U.S. hospital and made a remarkable recovery is now fighting the B.C. government to be able to bring him home.

"He's wasting away down there," said David Chapman's mother, Joan Dmytryshyn. "I will never give up. I want my boy back."

The 49-year-old Chapman was a consultant to the steel industry, who lived in Chilliwack, B.C., since he was a child. In December 2006, he traveled to Tustin, Calif., to visit his children, who had moved there with his ex-wife. While there, he suffered a massive brain hemorrhage, putting him on life support in a California hospital. His parents said they were told that if he survived, he might not be able to talk or even feed himself.

'The best thing would be to go back to work and get all my affairs in order.'— David Chapman

Chapman was covered by the provincial Medical Services Plan (MSP) in B.C., but had not purchased any health insurance to cover him while travelling outside Canada. Joan Dmytryshyn said the U.S. hospital bills quickly began piling up — huge bills she and her husband Gordon couldn't possibly pay.

"The hospital bill must be well over a million dollars now," said Gordon Dmytryshyn. "It's closer to two million," added Joan.

She said the hospital lobbied on Chapman's behalf and convinced the State of California to cover the entire cost of his care in that state, under the Cal-Med program.

"I think they have been absolutely marvelous and shown that they do have a heart and that they do care," she said. "They've gone to extremes to look after him."

B.C. government 'rejections were a shock'

The good news, said Joan, is her son has made a miraculous recovery and is well enough to travel back to B.C. The bad news, she said, is the B.C. government has refused to reinstate his MSP coverage, so he can be transferred from California to a B.C. rehabilitation facility.

Gordon and Joan Dmytryshyn say the U.S. has treated their son David Chapman far better than his own country. (CBC)

"He's got to go into a facility and nobody will take him unless he's got MSP installed," said Joan. "The (MSP) rejections were a shock. They really were."

"It's so bloody stupid. Really stupid," said Gordon.

Under B.C. government rules, residents must be in the province for three months before they qualify for health-care coverage. Because his MSP coverage lapsed during his absence, Chapman had to re-apply as a returning resident. His parents have been told he will not qualify until he has been back in the province for three months.

"He has to be here. It's like a catch-22. He has to have residency for three months," Joan said. "But I cannot look after him here. The two of us cannot look after him [in the interim]."

'If we can get him into a facility where there is equipment, trained personnel, he could walk again.' — Joan Dmytryshyn, mother of David Chapman

A December 2007 letter to the couple from Stephanie Power, director of Medical Services Operations and Policy for the Ministry of Health, reads:

"Your request was reviewed by a Ministry of Health panel. The panel took into account the seriousness of your son's medical condition, but noted that the condition does not meet the…criteria of having been diagnosed [in B.C.] during the [three-month] wait period. In light of this, I must advise that your request has been denied."

Power added, "Unless alternative health insurance has been obtained, and will help with payment, the cost of such services [in B.C] is the responsibility of the individuals involved."

Joan Dmytryshyn said administrators at G.F. Strong Rehabilitation Centre told her the facility could only free up a bed for Chapman if he were covered by MSP, regardless of whether his parents could pay or whether he could obtain any other type of health insurance.

Needs rehabilitation, says family

"If we can get him into a facility where there is equipment, trained personnel, he could walk again. He might even use his arm again and he can work again and be a contributing member of society," she said.

"I miss my mom," said Chapman, in an interview from the Park Anaheim Health Center in California. "She's the one constant force in my life."

B.C. Health Minister George Abbott says he will look at the Chapman case. (CBC)

When asked if he wants to go home, he replied, "The best thing would be to go back to work and get all my affairs in order."

Chapman's parents said they feel it is a sad irony that the U.S., which is often criticized for its medical system, has been generous and compassionate, while the medical system in their home province has not.

"David is a Canadian citizen. And it is his right to receive medical services," said Joan.

"I was flabbergasted," said Gordon, who was born in B.C. and served Canada in the Korean War. "After living in this country all these years — to be treated like third-class citizens, that's what we are," he said.

Joan added, "I've cried lots and lots of tears. There shouldn't be any tears left, actually, because I think I've cried them all, particularly when they said don't hold up much hope for David surviving the night."

Dmytryshyn said she offered to pay the B.C. government fee of $162.00 for three months of MSP coverage, but was told that would not help.

"It's peanuts, isn't it?" asked Gordon, adding, "Only idiots in government can come up with this crap."

He said he was a B.C. Liberal Party supporter, but after this happened he decided to donate his $100 Climate Action Dividend cheque from the Campbell government to the provincial NDP.

Health minister promises to look at case

Joan wrote to Health Minister George Abbott in November to appeal to him for help, but got no reply.

When asked about Chapman's dilemma in an interview, Abbott said, "This is the first I've heard of the case."

Abbott pointed out B.C. residents should always buy travel health insurance when they leave the country. However, when told that B.C. coverage is the problem, not insurance for travel to the U.S., he said, "I'd be very pleased to look at the gentlemen's case if provided with all the detail on it and if requested by the family."

Joan said she visits David in California every three months, but because she is in her 70s, travel health insurance for her is becoming unaffordable. She said she spends her nights worrying about David wasting away in a foreign country, when he could be getting rehabilitation at home in B.C.

"I thought I was sending out an appeal that perhaps they could not refuse, 'cause it was not anything great that I was asking for, " she said.