Dear everyone,
On Monday the 4th of May I got into a accident with a scooter while being on my bike. The person on the scooter sadly drove away (I did however see his plate number). I got checked in the hospital because I got my bike between my legs with quite some force which left me with a big physical trauma and a lot of pain.
I’m currently able to take care of myself (with the help of others) and doing small walks outside but besides that I need a lot of physical rest. While writing this I’m still in a lot of pain and on pain medication 24/7 to make it a bit more doable. I haven’t been able to work since the accident and because I’m a freelancer this is a big problem because this means I don’t get any income.
Which leaves me in the place that I don’t have any income now to pay the bills that I need to pay soon.
Steps I already took and what I know for now:
- I did a check-up with my GP who told me that with the injury I have, I probably need 4 more weeks of healing (so 6 weeks in total) if everything goes well. During this time I need proper rest for my body in order for it to heal. I also got referred to make pictures in the hospital to check if there is also a fracture in my bone.
- I filled a report with the police in order for me to have a change to get compensation from the (insurance) of the perpetrator to cover my missed income and other expanses that I had to make because of the accident. I learned however that this can take months or even years before getting this money.
- Sadly I am not part of a “bread funds” at the moment because I just came out of a burnout and picking up my work again since October. During this time I also got de freelance benefit fund (BBZ), so it will probably be hard to get it again (it also takes a long time with a lot of work to get it). The burnout also causes me that I don’t have any other back-up money or savings at the moment.
- I’m going to get in contact with juridisch loket to check what my rights are further in this case.
What this means (for now) for my income:
I need a minimum of €2250 a month of income to cover all my living- and business expenses (rent, healthcare insurance, food, (tattoo) studio rent etc). Listening to my doctor advice, I probably won’t be able to tattoo for 6 weeks total.
This would mean I need €3375 at least for 6 weeks so I can take my time to heal and being able to pay all my bills in between.
I already got some donations with the total amount of €1200, which leaves me at €2175 total I still need. Together with the 2,9% fee that gofundme takes, the amount that I need will be €2238.
It can happen that I have to adjust the needed amount over time (up or down). Reasons for this could be:
- My healing takes longer than expected.
- My healing goes faster than expected and I’m able to slowly make some income.
- The calculated amount is a minimum so therefor it can happen that I have unexpected (medical) costs.
- I also am going to try to earn part of my income by making original prints from my couch in the meantime.
- Gofundme takes 25 cent for each donation, so if I get a lot of small donations from a lot of different people, I will have to add this.
For now I want to thank all of those who already helped me and those who will help me in the future. I learned (the hard way) during my burnout that community is what we need the most in this world and I am so grateful for the community I build since.