Henry Clifford Wilson

Three years ago Henry Clifford Wilson became debilitatingly ill. In an instant, he went from being a healthy and highly active person to struggling to accomplish basic day-to-day tasks. After 15 months Henry’s mystery illness was finally diagnosed as mercury poisoning. Financially bankrupted due to medical and living expenses while simultaneously being unable to work, Henry is in desperate need of financial support while he is recovering.
 
Henry is a genuine, good-natured, and incredibly talented person. Many know him as the drummer in Floor, or the guitar player in House of Lightning and Dove.
 
Before Henry got sick, he would spend his days writing and recording music, touring around the US and Europe, riding BMX, going to see other musicians perform, and hanging out with his friends.
 
On October 28, 2016, Henry’s life took a dramatic turn. While playing drums during rehearsal for a Floor show in Orlando, FL he experienced an event he described as what it might feel like to have a stroke or heart attack. An ambulance rushed Henry to the hospital, and after basic labs and workups, 24 hours later he was deemed stable and released.
 
While making the 2-hour drive back to his home in Gainesville, FL he suffered a seizure-like event where his body became fully enveloped in tremors - he later described it as feeling as though the electrical system in his brain and body went haywire. Fortunately, he was able to safely pull off the road until the event passed, and upon his arrival home he was taken back to the ER. Again, after labs and workups Henry was sent home without answers. In the following weeks his body went into further decline, and he became virtually debilitated.
 
Over the next 7 months Henry had at least 5 more trips to the ER, including a 3-day stay at the hospital. Imaging and lab work slowly revealed larger issues, such as clinical symptoms of heart failure and swollen kidneys. While clearly alarming, once again no cause could be found.
 
In April of 2017 Henry began seeing another doctor who ran more extensive labs, including bloodwork for lyme disease, parasites, and infectious diseases. It was during these workups that a heavy metal urinalysis was performed and came back as extremely high for mercury. Though this was the first step in understanding what was ailing him, it was not yet conclusive.
 
Henry continued seeing countless specialists (cardiologists, neurologists, endocrinologists, etc.) and had numerous evaluations (labs, scans, monitors, endoscopies, heart catheters, and even a spinal tap), but still doctors were unable to link his onslaught of symptoms to an exact cause.
 
In December of 2017 Henry was taken to Palm Beach, Florida to see yet another doctor. Without having seen the results of the prior heavy metal urinalysis, the doctor independently came to the conclusion that Henry was dealing with some sort of toxicity/poisoning issue.
 
In January of 2018, with the assistance of more extensive testing, Henry was finally diagnosed with mercury poisoning. It is thought that Henry was likely exposed to this toxin through routine dental work – the application and/or removal of amalgam fillings can expose both the patient and dentists/hygienists to harmful levels of mercury. Mercury gets stored in the soft tissue and can cause neurological, respiratory, visual, audiological, behavioral, and organ disruption.
 
To complicate matters, the body does not have a natural mechanism for getting rid of heavy metals (e.g., mercury, lead, arsenic, cadmium) so innovative methods have to be used. Henry spent the next month contacting doctors around the country to determine the best and safest method to detox and recover his health. He was advised from several sources to follow a low dose oral chelation therapy protocol developed by a chemist from Princeton University.
 
However, before Henry could begin therapy he needed to have all 8 of his amalgam fillings removed, since they are a known source of mercury and chelating with a source of heavy metal in the body can actually make a person more ill. Additionally critical was the need to prevent further exposure while getting the fillings removed. To do this, Henry worked with a dentist certified by the International Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxicology in using the most rigorous techniques to remove existing amalgam fillings.
 
Finally, in April of 2018 Henry was cleared to begin the chelation process that extracts heavy metals from the body. This process is extremely slow, with the average timeframe for a breakthrough occurring at 2 years, sometimes longer depending on the person and their level of exposure to the toxin.
 
Today, after a year and a half of therapy, Henry has finally begun to experience some improvement; however, he is still not well enough to return to work. All day long and without warning he is randomly afflicted by a slew of symptoms, such as an erratic and speedy heart rate, shortness of breath, tremors, and a pulsating and distorted vision that turns into vertigo. Though progress is being made and his symptoms have been improving, performing simple day to day tasks are still very difficult and the road ahead to a healthy state of being holds an unknown distance.
 
At this point Henry’s financial situation is dire. He lives alone, has accumulated tens of thousands of dollars in debt, and has been making ends meet through the generosity of his friends (i.e., food, meals cooked, basic supplies, etc.).
 
This campaign was created out of ABSOLUTE necessity. Anyone who knows Henry knows that he has worked for everything he has in life, and has taken great pride in this. In fact, this campaign has been 100% initiated and created for him by his friends because we love him so much and believe in him and his recovery. In addition, Henry is one of the most generous people we know, willing to help those in need when he has been in the position to do so.
 
With Henry’s inability to work, no way of knowing when he’ll be able to return to work, and his financial resources having bottomed out, the bar was set high for this campaign in an effort to make sure Henry has the necessary means to meet his needs over the next year. All donations go directly into Henry, so there is no middle person involved in getting funds to him.
 
We greatly appreciate anything you can do to help Henry through one of the most arduous times in his life, continue on his road to recovery, and ultimately successfully recover!
 
With the utmost gratitude, sincerity, humility, respect and appreciation…
 
All our love,
Henry’s Friends