"I hurt so much," she said. "My stomach hurt before I came to the hospital but I
ignored it. I was scared they weren't going to treat me like they would somebody
with money, and they was just going to let me die.

"It's heartbreaking," said her daughter. "If people had health care, they'd
definitely come when they first had symptoms, instead of waiting because they're
afraid of being pounded with large bills."

By the time Bradley was rushed to the hospital in severe pain last November, it was too late, said Dr. Andre Campbell. "If we found it earlier, the prognosis would have been better," said Campbell, General's chief of medical staff.