Help Mark Alonzo Rebuild
Mark's unfailing generosity and love of life are well known to us. We know that without such virtues, life for all of us doesn't make a lot of sense. He's been awesome to so many, but now he's in quite a bit of trouble.
Mark's got a perforation in his colon/intestine. I should know more precisely after 2 days of asking nurses and doctors a bunch of questions, but I get confused about a few things. What I'm not confused about: before this, he was passing out, unable to stay conscious. It wasn't a choice to go to the hospital, it was life or death. The first surgery helped clean out a bunch of infectious material that had accumulated, but it was incomplete—he still needs the actual hole in his system to be patched up. That's today's surgery; I'm writing you from the waiting room of the ICU as he's being prepared for it.
He needs a lot of things at this juncture. The family needs support and people to reach out, and honestly, many of you have done amazing work in that regard. You've offered to share food and visited him at the hospital, making sure to greet his Dad. They know they're not alone. However, I can't imagine him going back to any kind of work any time soon. His time in the hospital recovering is going to be significant; heck, his time in the ICU is going to be more extensive than it is now.
The way I see it, we're raising funds to help Mark get his life back together. Not just pay bills, but have some sense of safety and security as he focuses on recovery and what he wants to do with the rest of his life. It's been an amazing life so far, and we've been privileged to be along for the ride, whether we know him through the various schools he's been to, his career in photojournalism, his work in psychology and counseling, his presence at roller derby. Some people are born for adventure, and whatever Mark's is after this ordeal, he deserves all the support he can get.
Obviously, the funds are needed pretty urgently. Mark's a fighter, but a precarious financial situation and an inability to work create a peculiarly cruel kind of problem.
