Daniel Frazier's Summit of Recovery

In August 2021, Daniel Frazier was working as an insurance claims adjuster in Calgary, AB, Canada, far from his home in Nashville, TN, USA. This was not the first nor the farthest Daniel had been from his home for work, given that he had managed the productions of global touring artists, ranging from clubs to arenas.

But like so many of us - maybe even all - Daniel’s career was upended by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Daniel quickly began to think about what kind of future his industry might be staring down and thus, at the suggestion of a friend, Daniel looked into the world of an Insurance Claims Adjuster. Being the swift thinker and man of action that he is, he quickly acquired his certification and - seeing as mother nature is unbothered by a plague - unfortunate natural disasters were still happening (increasingly so) and our boy Daniel was off to work.

Tiring and grueling of a job as it is, Daniel did well in this new field. He was well-liked by his superiors and didn’t mind the solitary nature of going out to catastrophes, being a source of confidence with his boots on the ground for the people whose lives had just been dramatically impacted by the elements and who - on top of that - were also staring down the vague and overwhelming behemoth of the global financial titan that is the Insurance Industry. Any of you who know Daniel are aware that his smile, his heart - and not to mention his charming Southern accent - can polish up any moment. Daniel was good at his job. Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi is where he found himself working, but in that early aforementioned summer of 2021, the province of Alberta, Canada found itself gripped by a truly bizarre hail storm.

Daniel was a part of the workforce that went up to assess the damages and lived there in Calgary, finding the neighbors to the north and the job to be pleasant. Then, one day, an unfortunate accident happened within the already-unfortunate natural calamity.

Daniel was using a ladder on a split two-story house assessing the severe wind and hail damages, the feet set on the sloped lower roof and rising up to the other, second sloped roof. Unfortunately, the ladder slipped and the next thing Daniel knew was that he was in a hospital.

What he didn’t know was that it was three days later and he had fallen 30-40ft., suffering traumatic brain injuries (with substantial contusions to the frontal and temporal lobes, amongst other things), fractured two of his spinal vertebrae, and had a medial malleolar fracture of his right ankle.

It took time for his friends and family to locate him after he didn’t show up to work the next day. It was terrifying, to be honest. When he was located, his father rushed immediately to his side to help his son. It is also why we have photos of him in the hospital, for Dan Sr. is, indeed, a good dad.

What took even more time was Daniel’s recovery. I’ll spare you the 10 days in the hospital and the 4 Canadian and 13 American doctors that worked on him, but needless to say, the whole process was extensive. What I can say now in the present is that Daniel is well and mostly back to ‘normal’: the surgery on his ankle was a success and Daniel made a very informed decision (alongside the neurosurgeons) to forgo surgery on the spine, opting to wear a back brace for the better part of a year. It was very uncomfortable, but the spine healed well. He still is suffering issues with the five primary senses, most impactfully the response to taste and smell, due to the brain trauma, but the neurosurgeons feel that with more time, those senses will return.

We are here on this GoFundMe because Daniel has extensive medical bills. What else would you expect? Because he was in Canada, he was denied a few of the paltry work-related insurance he could have had and because he was an American working in Canada, he was denied the slightly-less-paltry work-related insurance (or access to their healthcare) that they have as citizens there. Daniel did what he could for a while to starve off the bills, hiring lawyers to see what legal ground he might have to stand on after the fall, but there was not much to be done. Also, after recovering, Daniel took a job a little over a year later helping to production manage a venue in Nashville (a move that I'm sure gave his mother and doctor more than a little concern).

The time has come to help our friend out. Daniel is one of the most generous and selfless people we know. He radically cares for others, going above and beyond for his friends, family, and strangers. If you’re able to, let’s help Daniel cover his medical and cost of living expenses. He has kept meticulous records of everything (of course) and made a very modest but realistic calculation of his monthly expenses. He has paid for almost everything out of pocket thus far with the little savings left and credit cards, which is insane to think about, but Daniel is tough and resilient like that. Regardless, as such, it’s time to help him out.

Below is a breakdown of everything the $150,000 will be going to. Let’s help Daniel Allen Frazier, Jr get up the mountain he has already started climbing and reach the Summit of Recovery.

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From Daniel's sister, Abigail:

If you are reading this, you may already know and love my older brother. If you are reading this and you do not know him well, allow me to explain who this man is.

Daniel Frazier has always been my hero. An older brother I literally and figuratively look up to. He is fiercely independent and individualistic, boldly honest and confident, and he earnestly cares for the ones he loves in his life. He’s always carried himself as the guiding figure in my life, steering me with encouragement and helping me to carry myself with confidence. Not to mention he, of course, showed me the right music to listen to.

However, sometimes this big brother role and his characteristics can overtake the better of him, leaving him believing he can do it all and be there for all, letting that fierce independent nature of him take over. This leaves him struggling to ask for help in his own life.

For the last year and a half, Daniel has found himself in desperate need of help but has kept that to himself. We, as some of his closest friends & family, are here to share with you the life-altering accident Daniel endured resulting in a traumatic brain injury, the second brain injury in his life, and how this accident has left him in severe need of your help.

Just as Richard explained the accident above, this event was something none of us were prepared for, let alone Daniel. In the midst of the pandemic, in another country away from friends and family, Daniel endured so much during that accident. Now, months on months later, Daniel is still in the aftermath of the accident, buried under medical bills and health issues prohibiting him from working and healing.

As those who love him, we want to take that burden off of him.

We all know Daniel will succeed at anything he puts his mind to. We also know he will be the hardest worker in his field, needing no man’s help to get there. Unfortunately, this job that took him to Alberta, Canada that August stole those qualities from him and left him in a hospital bed, away from his home, away from those who love him most.

Even though we are sharing his story some 18 months later, this story still breaks our hearts as Daniel is still on a path to recovery to himself again.

Daniel has been quietly carrying this burden for far too long. As someone who deeply cares for him and looks up to him, I ask that you help us share his burden and set him on the road to healing. Even though I may be his little sister, it is now my turn to help rebuild the man that shaped me.