Hello everyone,

My name is Mike.

I am a 26-year-old man from the St. Louis area. I am a first responder by day, musician by night, part time college student, and generally like to think of myself as a pretty decent person. My main goal in life is to make other people happy. I am grateful for many things: my loving family, wonderful girlfriend, the absolute best group of friends a guy could ask for, and the privilege of having some absolutely incredible experiences.

Unfortunately, it was not always this way. Tragedy struck in 2017 when, riding my motorcycle home from a friend's house one night, just a few weeks before high school graduation, and when I was set to ship out for Army Basic Training, I was struck by an impaired driver on Route 140 in my hometown of Alton, IL. My life was forever changed that night.

Barely alive, I was airlifted to a level one trauma center where, when I awoke, I would discover that I had compound fractures in both legs, road rash on 30% of my body, broken bones in both feet and hands, along with every bone in my face, and the reason you are reading this now, 12 shattered front teeth

After a few weeks in the hospital, I was released to my father's home, where, over the next year, he and my family and friends did everything they could to help me recover, from changing bandages and helping me learn to walk again, to driving me to appointments, and in my father's case, taking on the crippling amount of debt associated with my medical care, as a result of the driver's lack of insurance. Thankfully, I did manage eventually to walk, and drive, and be a functional member of society.

The next few years were a whirlwind, but I count myself lucky that I have been able to live a relatively normal life. My dreams of serving in the military now off the table, I became a volunteer firefighter, and started working full-time as a park ranger. Met my absolute godsend of a girlfriend, some of the best friends someone could ever have, rediscovered my passion for music, and found a new family in the online community I created, ALT STL

Without getting too into the weeds, I didn’t have much of a social life in my early 20s. Then one night, the singer of a local band called Danger Party invited me to come check out one of their Emo Night events.

That show changed everything. I owe all the good fortune I’ve had since to the people I met that evening. ✨

While conversing, I brought up the idea of an online space for people like us, a healthy and diverse social environment for people who never quite fit in anywhere else. All I wanted was friends, and I wanted to give other people the opportunity to make some too. The central focus would be music, mostly 90s and 00s pop punk, emo, and alternative, but all were welcome.

We started our first week with about 20 members, mostly friends of the band. As of writing this, we are at a mind-blowing 6,000+. I could never have expected any of the incredible experiences and friendships I’ve been graced with as a result, and my biggest hope as we continue this journey is that I can bring others the same joy that I’ve received.

One thing has never been the same though. One thing that has not only never gotten better, but only worsened over time. The reason I can’t smile in front of others, sing in front of a crowd, or eat most foods like a normal person. I live in near constant pain and anxiety. I can’t even look at myself in the mirror most days, to be fully honest.

My teeth.

At the time, my family simply did not have the $25,000+ it would have cost to properly repair the damage. I had 11 teeth fractured, and one knocked completely out, along with severe facial trauma. So, we did a band-aid fix, filing my teeth down so they were no longer sharp, and performing root canals on all of them, with the hope that this would buy me 2-4 years of function.

As luck would have it, we managed almost 7, before the problems started catching up to me. A few months ago, I bit into a sandwich, and one of my front teeth fell out. A few months later, another started coming loose. The way it’s looking now, I will go from a jagged smile, to completely toothless by 2026.

There is no hope for the remaining incisors; they are too far gone and have to be removed. Even with insurance, working full-time, and going to a low-cost dental school, I am still looking at a $15,000+ out-of-pocket expense, over the course of two dozen surgeries, that will take approximately 3 years to complete.

Another unpleasant side effect has been reoccurring upper respiratory infections, as a result of all the chaos going on in my mouth, I spent almost half of the last year sick in bed. I work as much overtime as possible to try and be prepared for the next bout of chronic illness. This has completely derailed my plans for things like replacing my run down old car, or buying a house. I know it will be years before those are even remotely possible for me. But I just want to be out of pain, stop getting sick all the time, and get some semblance of confidence and normality back. As I type this, I’m getting ready to work another 12 hour shift, my 5th this week, just to try and keep up on bills and attempt to meet my savings goals for this.

So, as much as I hate to burden others with my problems, it seems like the only viable way to get the care I need in a nation where things like dental implants are a luxury of the rich, is to ask for help. I’ve been putting this off for months now, as I would never want to seem like someone looking for a handout. But it really is at the point where I have exhausted all my options. I will be happy to post progress pics, provide receipts, and re-donate any unused funds to others in similar needs, should we actually manage to reach our goal. If any dentists out there are willing to donate free or reduced cost work, that would be incredible too.

If you can give anything, it would mean the world to me. Please, help me smile again.

(Attached are pictures of my injuries, X-rays, current state of my teeth, and a normal picture of me for reference. It’s gross, be warned lol. Thank you for looking)

From the bottom of my heart, thank you.

Mike “Pockets” Schrage