Chris Needs Your Help After Toxic Water Fall

Chris Fell Into a Chemical Pool. Now He’s Fighting for His Life.

On June 27, his 41st birtday, Chris Minzey was found barely alive after falling into an unlit, unfenced basin at the Muskegon Wastewater Facility. He suffered hypothermia, a brain bleed, a collapsed lung, a shattered vertebra, and multiple broken ribs. He spent over eight hours alone in toxic water. He’s now in ICU, restrained, sedated, and barely responsive.

We’re raising funds to cover Chris’s emergency care, legal advocacy, rent relief, and transportation needs.

We don’t have a car. We’re facing eviction. And I can’t work while staying by his side at the hospital.

Please help us fight for his life—and for the future we’re still hoping to have together.

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What Happened to Chris

On the night of Thursday, June 26, 2025—the eve of his 41st birthday—Chris left our home in Maple Island Estates to clear his head. He forgot to bring his phone. It was quiet. Dark. He needed space to breathe. Our neighborhood sits just under 1,500 feet from the Muskegon County Wastewater Facility—a sprawling industrial zone with open lagoons, access roads, and chemical treatment basins.

There are no fences between our homes and those hazards.

No lighting. No warning signs. No protection.

In the darkness, Chris got turned around. Disoriented. He wandered past the invisible threshold between safety and nightmare. At some point—sometime after nightfall—he fell headfirst over a low retaining wall, tumbled down a steep concrete embankment, and landed in a waste holding pool.

He was alone. In the dark. In poison.

For over eight hours, he fought to keep his head above water.

Injured. Trapped. Fighting to live with no one coming.

He wasn’t found until dawn—over eight hours later—when a truck driver spotted him.

By the time help arrived, he was barely conscious.

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His Condition Now

Chris was rushed to the ICU, where he remains in critical condition.

His injuries include:

A traumatic brain bleed

A collapsed lung

Multiple broken ribs

A shattered vertebra, with bone fragments pressing into his spinal cord

And violent, full-body spasms caused by trauma and toxic exposure

He is currently restrained for his own safety, heavily sedated, and barely responsive.

His body jerks uncontrollably.

His breathing stutters. Fails. Fights back.

His heart rate swings from dangerously low to alarmingly high.

He tries to speak, but the words fall apart in his mouth.

Before he left that night, Chris had typed a quiet, private message to his late brother—a note found saved as a draft on his phone.

He didn’t plan to disappear.

He didn’t want to die.

He just needed air.

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Why We Need Help

I’ve been at his side every moment since.

But everything else is falling apart.

We have no working vehicle, and no way to get to hospitals or work.

We are behind on rent and facing imminent eviction.

I’ve lost all income while caring for him full-time.

And we will need serious legal support to hold the county accountable for allowing a chemical death trap to remain wide open beside a residential neighborhood.

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This Wasn’t an Accident

This wasn’t an accident.

This was a failure—of safety, of infrastructure, of basic human responsibility.

Chris did not choose this.

The system let it happen.

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How You Can Help

Your donation will go toward:

✅ Chris’s emergency care and long-term recovery

✅ Rent and living costs to prevent us from losing our home

✅ A vehicle to get to hospitals, follow-ups, and future work

✅ Legal action to prevent this from happening to anyone else

✅ Support for me to stay by his side, advocate, and survive the coming storm

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Who He Is

Chris is not just a patient in a hospital bed.

He is the love of my life.

The most stubborn, loyal, funny, infuriating, passionate man I have ever known.

He is a fighter.

And even now—tied down, sedated, shredded inside and out—he’s still fighting.

I love him more than the stars.

More than the planets.

More than the blood in my veins.

Please help me keep holding on.

Help me keep him here.

Help us survive this.

With all my heart,

Jessie