With heavy but grateful hearts we ask that you please lend your support to our friend and loved one Cory Brown. He was seriously injured after an accident at Burning Man 2026.

In the early morning hours of Thursday, September 3rd, Cory fell from the top of an art piece and sustained a severe traumatic brain injury (TBI), among other injuries. Miraculously, he received care from off-duty medical professionals just moments after the fall and Burning Man’s own medical team was able to perform immediate, lifesaving care while they prepared him for an emergency airlift to Renown Regional Medical Center in Reno.

Cory underwent multiple interventions to save his life and spent more than a week in the ICU. During this, he was on a ventilator in a medically induced coma, and his future was incredibly uncertain. He is now in stable condition outside of the ICU, and we are incredibly grateful that he has made it this far. His recovery, however, is only beginning.

Cory needs our help now.

Things are moving quickly. Cory's medical team expects that he may be released from the neurological ward within the next week once his nutrition can be managed and his feeding tube can be removed.

He will then need to get back home and into a rehabilitation facility. Without appropriate rehabilitation care, Cory will require 24/7 care and supervision from friends and family who support him. We urgently need to raise funds to cover medical transport and expenses, to get Cory safely back home, as well as for his rehabilitation and ongoing care.

About Cory

Cory is someone who gives an enormous amount of himself to the communities around him. He is passionate and thorough in everything he does and immediately found camaraderie and a home working as a high rigger for concerts and event production. He is a prolific artist, maker, and performer in the circus and flow arts communities. He is well known for his unique manipulation and ability to interchange multiple flow or circus props, which is how he got his nickname “Genie”. He is also the creator of his own unique prop system – TetraFans.

This year, Cory devoted much of his free time to choreographing a fantastic performance with his Denver community and team, HotCoCo, for the Burning Man Conclave fire performance. He poured endless amounts of his creativity, energy, and passion into bringing that piece to life and on the night of the big performance, his team was routing for his survival.

Now, Cory needs those same communities and more to rally around him.

His injuries will require significant time and ongoing care, and he will be unable to work while he recovers. Funds raised here will help cover the cost of his emergency medical transport and ongoing medical care, as well as help maintain his living situation while he is unable to work.

Cory has spent years creating, building, performing, and showing up for the communities he loves. Now it's our turn to show up for Cory.

If you are able to contribute, every donation will help. If you aren't in a position to give, sharing this fundraiser is just as valuable and can help us reach the people who want to support him. Please share this with your camps, group messages, discord communities, and anywhere else you see fit.

Thank you for helping us give Cory the time, stability, and support he needs to heal and find his way back to the life he loves.