Accident Support for Molly & G.A. Surgery Cost
Donation protected
(WARNING this GoFundMe contains images of post-car accident vehicles. While there is no blood/gore/bodies, the images may upset some people.)
My name is Molly Nemecek.
I am a freelance artist who resides in BC, Canada. As a freelance artist, I go to many conventions a year selling my prints and commissions, do commissions on the computer and with traditional mediums for clients all around the world. I love what I do. In my spare time I love playing video games, dogs, being in nature, silly memes, and being with my friends and family.
To experience a change of pace, I moved to Ontario from July 2017 and lived there until August 2018. On February 2018, when I was driving back from visiting a friend, an SUV ran a red light and struck me while I was in my car. They were going very fast and my car was totalled and considered a write off. I thankfully survived, but if I had been any further into the intersection, I may not have been here today.
I opened a claim against the opposing insurance company with a lawyer who completely let me down. They only won me $700 for accident benefits coverage, which barely paid for a few sessions of talk therapy, and had to back out of a pain & suffering case after almost 3 years because of how much anxiety it was causing me. I was losing sleep, I was so anxious I was constantly sick, getting calls of threats of freezing my assets and me being unable to fully understand what my lawyer was saying, and them offering no empathy or confidence they could win the case.
I was struggling to prove how the accident caused me a great deal of anxiety and pain, as I have a medical history of some back pain which I am hoping to fix with gender affirming top surgery, and have a previous history of anxiety.
Also because my hard work in previous years to retain clients and customers, I was able to keep myself afloat with income from all the conventions I went to in 2018 and 2019. Conventions were tough because of pain, but since I had created the work already for pins and prints, I was able to make enough to not show a significant loss. However, in terms of legality, the opposition shows this as me being "Fine" and labeling me as able to return to work.
However, what it doesn't show on the surface level is that I have drawn and created less than 50% what I used to. I don't like engaging and talking on social media as much as I used to due to extreme anxiety and depression, and every day is a struggle to create enough to try to get by. I don't make comics anymore, and I barely take commissions for anyone that isn't a friend or previous client. I had to turn down many commissions over the last few years at conventions and online due to pain. I also had a much larger expense budget in the time since my accident due to needing to be closer to convention centers, Ubers and taxis to save carrying things to and from them, treatments while in the cities I’m in if necessary, etc.
My chronic pain has increased an incredible amount. I now have degenerative osteoarthritis in my lower back and shoulder, knees and ankle. It's painful to even walk most days. I have a hard time bending down, and I can't do activities I used to love doing (kickboxing, dancing etc) without pain. I've had eczema on my drawing hand most of my life, but every day with pain and anxiety causes it to be some of the worst it's ever been in my life. Giant cracks make it difficult to even draw or do anything most days. It's hard to even enjoy my hobbies (gaming, drawing etc).
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I'm going to be struggling a long time until I'm able to overcome the anxiety and pain enough to continue to make art. There might even come a time where I might not be able to do art anymore as a living because of it. This is currently a time where I am rethinking parts of my life because of my chronic pain and new disabilities, and it's been a really emotional, hard road.
I've had a lot of support from family and friends so far. I don't like asking for help. However, I'm currently in a situation where it's hard for me not to, or else I risk losing my house, my car, and my dignity.
When Covid hit, I was able to get help from the government via CERB, but that plus my small amount from Patreon wasn't enough to pay the climbing medical bills on top of my regular bills - including a mortgage for a condo which I had just bought in February 2019.
With so much going on in the world and causes to fight for and pandemics to cure, it's hard for me to ask for this during this time. But any support at all is so appreciated, and I thank every single one of you from the bottom of my heart for any help you can give me.
The money is going to my bills, past and future. It will help me afford more consistent therapy treatments rather than what I can afford on a case to case basis. Currently I can only afford 1 massage therapy session every 1-2 months, physiotherapy every other week (though my current physiotherapist is on indefinite leave) and my talk therapy every couple of months now. My goal is to be able to go to massage therapy twice a month, physio once a week and talk therapy twice a month. On top of that to be able to pay my bills and be able to afford extra art supplies and groceries as normal.
I am also needing help raising money for my gender affirming top surgery, which is thankfully mostly covered in Canada, however the cosmetic portion is not and is around $4500 which needs to be paid up front a few weeks before my scheduled surgery, which I’m currently on a waiting list for.
I'm in a dire situation where the funds are needed asap as my bills are piling up. This will be an ongoing thing, so I appreciate any help you can give. Thank you so much for reading.
-Molly
PS If you'd like to support my artwork instead, you can subscribe to my Patreon where I do monthly postcards I send in the mail, behind the scenes art, WIPs, speedpaints and more. Link is below!
www.patreon.com/jakface
I also have a store, which is closed until January 1 2021, but here is the Shop link
My name is Molly Nemecek.
I am a freelance artist who resides in BC, Canada. As a freelance artist, I go to many conventions a year selling my prints and commissions, do commissions on the computer and with traditional mediums for clients all around the world. I love what I do. In my spare time I love playing video games, dogs, being in nature, silly memes, and being with my friends and family.
To experience a change of pace, I moved to Ontario from July 2017 and lived there until August 2018. On February 2018, when I was driving back from visiting a friend, an SUV ran a red light and struck me while I was in my car. They were going very fast and my car was totalled and considered a write off. I thankfully survived, but if I had been any further into the intersection, I may not have been here today.
I opened a claim against the opposing insurance company with a lawyer who completely let me down. They only won me $700 for accident benefits coverage, which barely paid for a few sessions of talk therapy, and had to back out of a pain & suffering case after almost 3 years because of how much anxiety it was causing me. I was losing sleep, I was so anxious I was constantly sick, getting calls of threats of freezing my assets and me being unable to fully understand what my lawyer was saying, and them offering no empathy or confidence they could win the case.
I was struggling to prove how the accident caused me a great deal of anxiety and pain, as I have a medical history of some back pain which I am hoping to fix with gender affirming top surgery, and have a previous history of anxiety.
Also because my hard work in previous years to retain clients and customers, I was able to keep myself afloat with income from all the conventions I went to in 2018 and 2019. Conventions were tough because of pain, but since I had created the work already for pins and prints, I was able to make enough to not show a significant loss. However, in terms of legality, the opposition shows this as me being "Fine" and labeling me as able to return to work.
However, what it doesn't show on the surface level is that I have drawn and created less than 50% what I used to. I don't like engaging and talking on social media as much as I used to due to extreme anxiety and depression, and every day is a struggle to create enough to try to get by. I don't make comics anymore, and I barely take commissions for anyone that isn't a friend or previous client. I had to turn down many commissions over the last few years at conventions and online due to pain. I also had a much larger expense budget in the time since my accident due to needing to be closer to convention centers, Ubers and taxis to save carrying things to and from them, treatments while in the cities I’m in if necessary, etc.
My chronic pain has increased an incredible amount. I now have degenerative osteoarthritis in my lower back and shoulder, knees and ankle. It's painful to even walk most days. I have a hard time bending down, and I can't do activities I used to love doing (kickboxing, dancing etc) without pain. I've had eczema on my drawing hand most of my life, but every day with pain and anxiety causes it to be some of the worst it's ever been in my life. Giant cracks make it difficult to even draw or do anything most days. It's hard to even enjoy my hobbies (gaming, drawing etc).
------
I'm going to be struggling a long time until I'm able to overcome the anxiety and pain enough to continue to make art. There might even come a time where I might not be able to do art anymore as a living because of it. This is currently a time where I am rethinking parts of my life because of my chronic pain and new disabilities, and it's been a really emotional, hard road.
I've had a lot of support from family and friends so far. I don't like asking for help. However, I'm currently in a situation where it's hard for me not to, or else I risk losing my house, my car, and my dignity.
When Covid hit, I was able to get help from the government via CERB, but that plus my small amount from Patreon wasn't enough to pay the climbing medical bills on top of my regular bills - including a mortgage for a condo which I had just bought in February 2019.
With so much going on in the world and causes to fight for and pandemics to cure, it's hard for me to ask for this during this time. But any support at all is so appreciated, and I thank every single one of you from the bottom of my heart for any help you can give me.
The money is going to my bills, past and future. It will help me afford more consistent therapy treatments rather than what I can afford on a case to case basis. Currently I can only afford 1 massage therapy session every 1-2 months, physiotherapy every other week (though my current physiotherapist is on indefinite leave) and my talk therapy every couple of months now. My goal is to be able to go to massage therapy twice a month, physio once a week and talk therapy twice a month. On top of that to be able to pay my bills and be able to afford extra art supplies and groceries as normal.
I am also needing help raising money for my gender affirming top surgery, which is thankfully mostly covered in Canada, however the cosmetic portion is not and is around $4500 which needs to be paid up front a few weeks before my scheduled surgery, which I’m currently on a waiting list for.
I'm in a dire situation where the funds are needed asap as my bills are piling up. This will be an ongoing thing, so I appreciate any help you can give. Thank you so much for reading.
-Molly
PS If you'd like to support my artwork instead, you can subscribe to my Patreon where I do monthly postcards I send in the mail, behind the scenes art, WIPs, speedpaints and more. Link is below!
www.patreon.com/jakface
I also have a store, which is closed until January 1 2021, but here is the Shop link
Organizer
Molly Nemecek
Organizer
Port Coquitlam, BC