Aloha!

My name is Christian Cook, you might know me from set in New York, from the beach in Hawai’i, from runway in Tokyo, or the fashion industry in LA. Or maybe you’re just someone who I grew up with or a random stranger.

Either way, thank you for taking time to read this.

Something I often avoid talking about is that in 2012 I broke my C3-C6 vertebrae at Sandy’s on O’ahu, bodysurfing 6-8 foot waves. By broken I mean my MRI showed that I was missing a portion of my C3 with fractures down to the C6. It was around the time that the above photo was taken, and man if that kid had known how painful that one body surfing session would have been, I probably would have stayed out of the water!

I try not to talk about it because I’m not looking for sympathy and I feel like it makes it worse!

But my point is, that injury severely affected my life in many negative ways, and I still struggle with chronic pain and neuropathy on a daily basis: This means numbness in my extremities, lack of mobility, and a crushing stiff neck all the time. The doctors were shocked that I wasn’t paralyzed and able to breath without a respirator.

It took me years to process and realize a lot of the decisions I was making were based on my psychological state rather than good choices to make.

Why I bring this up, is that this has all really come to a head in the last year in Los Angeles. I went from a decent paying job in the fashion industry as a graphic designer to getting let go two weeks before Christmas in 2024.

Life in the expensive city of LA is a constant balancing act, and with the loss of my job I quickly lost my housing and bills started adding up quickly, leaving me applying for hundreds of jobs unanswered, and having to rely on working in food delivery for Uber Eats about 12 hours a day to survive.

I’m always grateful for these life experiences: I frame them as character building and cultivating grace, gratitude, and strength towards the bigger challenges in life I will continue to face, but lately it’s become overwhelming so I’m looking for help.

I’ve been essentially delivering food and living out of my car for the last 5 months and I love vans and trucks but sleeping in a Prius has been a little much for this tall guy….needless to say my body is not doing great. I’m grateful that this time in my life has enabled me to reconnect with old friends I dearly care about and to learn a lot about California…but a few weeks ago the pain became overwhelming and I’ve been barely able to function.

I’m slowly feeling better, but it made me realize it was time to leave this situation.

I’m seeking help today to relocate to my home of Kaua’i - I plan on starting small working on farms, and all the other labor jobs I enjoy. It’s time to wind back my ego and simply be of use.

It’s been non-stop here in LA and my nervous system is completely overwhelmed. Mentally & physically I need to return home to survive, before this place completely destroys me.

Long term goals are to continue in the legacy of my family in the islands working in writing, marketing, photography, and design but humbly I would simply love to be a simple farmer living a righteous life.

I daily thank God for all these wonderful experiences I’ve been graced with in these last 40 years but today I’m here asking for help without shame, because I actually need it for once.

No matter the monetary value, any ounce of help is worth its weight in gold to me in regard to my sense of hope.

if you made it through all that text, thank you thank you thank you.

The main goal of this fundraiser is to raise enough funds to get me an island car and to start from there.

In love & gratitude,

Christian Cook