Keeping Tam's Dream Alive
Background: Tam’s Dream
You may know Tam from growing up in Hudson, Quebec - the eldest of the Gillis family, she dotes on her little sister and brothers. You may know her from "Le Sud-Ouest" of Montreal and its local cafe-dives such as Lili and Oli, and September Surf or be one of the many friends she met during her travels.
Or you may know her from her work as an Engineer at Bombardier Aerospace, or more recently at Mitsubishi Aircraft in Nagoya, Japan, where she has been saving money with the hopes of one day starting her own business.
Tam's dream has always been to curate incredible travel experiences for others. She values combining companionship and adventure, and with a good measure of passion, she has thrown herself at uncovering incredible, life expanding adventures.
She has been working in Japan for the past two years, riding her scooter each morning across the city of Nagoya, Japan, to work on the Mitsubishi SpaceJet project. And for some time she has romanticised about scooter travel in Vietnam.
On October 18th, Tam set out on a Vietnam scooter adventure with three friends - coworkers from Mitsubishi. Four hours into their first day of riding, Tam was feeling as though she was getting the hang of the chaotic streets of SouthEast Asia. She woke up in an ambulance.
Current Situation
Tam is currently in the French Hospital of Hanoi. She sustained numerous injuries including a crushed arm and is recovering from a long and difficult surgery to repair the damage. The severity of the hematomas which cover her body and face are still being assessed. Her injuries were much more substantive than the family initially thought.
Tam appears to be receiving excellent care in the hospital. She will be staying in Vietnam until she is stable enough to fly. If all goes well this should be in a few weeks. She may require followup surgery, she will need extensive rehab, and may require a caregiver in the early months of her recovery.
Contributions
We are her friends and family. Perhaps like yourself, we live a more risk averse life and have relied on Tam for vicarious moments of liberation.
We’ve launched this campaign because we want to help defray medical and related expenses for Tam as she starts her long period of recovery. The hospital bill has already hit $10,000 USD so far and this could double or go beyond. Afterwards, Tam is looking at several months of rehabilitation. Without pay, the committed ongoing expenses in Japan will mount quickly. It appears that she has no insurance coverage outside of Japan, and as a contractor, she has no income insurance.
We want to make sure that not only can Tammy get all the medical care and assistance she needs, but also that this unfortunate accident doesn’t derail all the hard work and dedication she’s committed to her dream. With this campaign we hope to bring peace-of-mind to Tam during her recovery, as this has been a concern for her even in her medicated state.
We are hoping to raise $15,000 or more. This will go a long way to relieve Tam's immediate concerns. Whatever contributions are made would definitely help her get back on her feet faster both physically and metaphorically. And hopefully we can help keep Tam's dream alive.
