I'm raising this for my friend Jonathan, who has had an unbelievable run of bad luck on top of being seriously ill, and right now he needs some help getting through the next stretch.

Jonathan has end-stage liver cirrhosis and has spent a huge amount of time in and out of the hospital, and the medical costs have eaten through the savings he had.

During one of those hospital stays, his car was sitting in the hospital parking lot. While Jonathan was inside being treated, the registration on the car expired.

And this is where Flock entered the story.

A Flock license plate reader flagged his car. Police came to the hospital parking lot and removed the plate from it while Jonathan was still a patient inside.

I know there are already a lot of reasons people are angry about Flock, but this one became very personal for me. A camera managed to find Jonathan's expired plate while the man who owned the car was literally inside the hospital with end-stage liver disease.

When Jonathan was finally discharged and tried to leave, the whole mess was waiting for him. He lost his license and was left dealing with reinstatement costs, a new plate, title fees, inspection costs and court-related issues.

He didn't exactly have spare money lying around to fix all of that. He had been paying for medication and treatment and had already burned through his savings.

So he put it off and tried to figure out how he was going to earn the money.

Then he ended up back in the hospital.

This time it was a severe infection in his leg. It got bad enough that there was a real possibility he was going to lose the leg.

Thankfully, somehow, they managed to save it.

But he has now been hospitalized for months again. His leg still isn't completely healed, he's still being given heavy opioid pain medication, and he's being prepared for discharge anyway.

So this is where Jonathan is right now:

He has end-stage liver disease. He just came frighteningly close to losing his leg. He can't realistically go straight back to work. His savings are gone. His driver's license still needs to be reinstated. And he needs enough money for food, gas and the basic things that will let him get through this period until he can get back on his feet.

He has applied for disability benefits, but that doesn't put money in his hands today.

I'm not trying to raise some enormous amount or solve the rest of Jonathan's life with one fundraiser. Right now I just want to get the immediate problems out of his way.

The costs we know about so far are:

- $83.50 for his license reinstatement

- $46.25 for the plate

- $66.75 for the title

- 3% Highway Use Tax on the value of the vehicle

- $30 for the required safety and emissions inspection

- $88.45 for insurance

- Any remaining court costs tied to the license issue

- Gas and food while he recovers

It makes me angry that this is even where we are.

Jonathan was in a hospital bed fighting liver disease when Flock flagged the car sitting outside. That set off a chain of problems he didn't have the money or health to deal with, and before he could dig himself out of it he nearly lost his leg.

Right now, about $1,000 could change Jonathan's immediate situation completely.

It can get his license situation straightened out. It can get the car legal again. It can put gas in it. It can buy groceries. It can give him some breathing room while his leg heals and while he waits for disability.

If you can throw in $10, $20, $50 or anything at all, it genuinely helps.

And if you're one of the many people who already hates what Flock cameras have become, please share Jonathan's story.

Because I can't think of a better example of how absurd this can get than a surveillance camera finding an expired license plate in a hospital parking lot while its owner is upstairs fighting for his life.

Thank you for helping Jonathan.