David Dreier thought for sure that his brother would try to save his life through a bone-marrow transplant, the SouthtownStar reports.
Dreier, who suffers from chronic lymphocytic leukemia, even set up arrangements with his older sibling, Michael, a Tinley Park resident, for the operation: he loaned him a total of $37,500 to help him get out of debt in return for the medical largesse.
Then Michael reneged, and now David’s suing.
"I figured it was my brother. I've known him my whole life. I can trust him," David, 47, said. "He's never offered to pay me back, not a penny. If I don't get the money back, then let it go to charity, but he doesn't get it."
Michael claims his doctors advised against the transplant, that the money wasn’t for the bone marrow transplant anyway and that David said he could pay back at his leisure.
"Those were the terms of the personal loan, plain and simple," he wrote in an e-mail to the SouthtownStar. "I do plan to pay David back in full in an expedient manner."
"David has made numerous personal loans to many of his siblings, none of which have been sued, to the best of my knowledge,” Michael wrote. “When the case goes to court, the facts will speak for themselves."
David, who is now relegated to being treated for the disease, is still hopeful that his brother might “do the right thing.”
His lawyer, Randall Reder said he’s pursuing a theft defense but wishes that Michael would simply undergo the procedure.
"What he'd like to gain is his brother's following through. But we can't force him, even in court," Reder said.
