KJ Rio Grief/Covid-19 Relief Support Fund

On Aug 20th, we unexpectedly lost an amazing soul, Tim Bergstrom [aka "Johnny Fever"], leaving behind his fiancé, Rio (D. Ventura). He drowned in Lake Ballinger, the result of a freak accident, and died in her arms while she desperately tried to administer lifesaving measures, balancing on her knees on the paddleboard of some passersby until EMS arrived, minutes too late.  It was breaking news for most of the day. The most accurate version of the story is here:

https://myedmondsnews.com/man-dies-after-probable-drowning-in-lake-ballinger/ 

Since that tragic day, Rio has been struggling to cope with the trauma and come to terms with this monumental loss.
(If you have Facebook), you can watch and read her words here:

https://www.facebook.com/rioventura/videos/2826024730775274/ 

https://www.facebook.com/rioventura/posts/2867686946609052?__tn__=K-R 

As she has been grieving over the love of her life, she has taken a step back from hosting while she pursues grief counseling and PTSD treatment, but has had a difficult time reaching out for help. Although she is working towards that goal, it will ultimately have amounted to several months until she has regained the ability to return to work and currently, she has depleted the entirety of her savings. Please consider giving whatever you can to help support her journey across the threshold of this unforeseen tragedy until she is able to take the reins again and be the life of the party you all know and love... She has promised; the music WILL return. Please be a part of helping to make that happen.

Warmly,

Jessie Stott ["KayJayJay"]


For those w/o Facebook access, here is a transcript of the words posted there:

{This is not happy...this is grim and heavy and all I'm gonna say on the matter once and for all. Warnings and all that shit.}

Haven't done an #appreciationSundays post in a long time.
I'm at the most leveled place I've been in my adult life. Grief is an overwhelming beast and everything feels grey and 2-dimensional. I spontaneously burst into uncontrollable weeping now, at the grocery store, the bank, Home Depot...no warning, no trigger, just unbridled, kicked-in-the-gut emotional pain and soul-burn flavored heartache.
Johnny Fever was my everyday anchor to one foot in front of the other, my ladder for climbing back to a version of myself I feel like I remembered fondly, one I recall wanting to be. He fixed all my things, inside and out. Whatever repairs were indicated (the car, the house, the electronics, the machines, my soul, etc.), he knew EXACTLY what it required to gently coax it back into working order. If I have a functioning heart right now...HE did that. He put in the time, the effort, the devotion, and he did it right the first time with very little direction required; he was amazed and honoured that I even let him try. He was teeming with emotional and technical intelligence, brilliant and genius respectively so. There was NOTHING ELSE he wanted more than to see it all flourish and he was filled with joy to do it. He wanted harm to come to nothing and NO ONE. He just wanted everything to work out and for everyone to be happy, always. He worked harder at it than anyone will ever realize. These words are the eulogy he deserves. He was everything to me.

We got to him LITERALLY SECONDS too late. He got tangled in the lily pads and drowned at the edge of the lake as he was too far away for anyone to help in time. I did compressions as best I could while balancing on my knees on the paddle board of passersby who reached him first and felt his last pulse under my fingers until EMS got there. I got SOME water out of him, pouring from his nose and his mouth, but not enough. He was unresponsive from the moment they dragged him into their raft.

I'm not ok and I can't pretend to be. I'll be looking into some grief intervention and PTSD counseling. I don't need to be cheered up, entertained, distracted, medicated, nagged or badgered, judged, or reminded about the gravity of my health or financial situation. I already know all of those things. What I just need is to grieve and to heal and I don't have a schedule for that. One thing he always vowed is that he would never rush me, or push me, or pressure me and that he just wanted to be of service to me where he could. He was the EPITOME of SELFLESS support. His love was unconditional, as is mine. I'm far more used to a pile of conditions. I'm done.

All that said, I want to express my appreciation for the only things holding me together: my tribe and my contributors, my SoundSation KaRIOke team, my fellow Buddhists sending prayers and daimoku [NamMyohoRengeKyo], his family for welcoming me into theirs in such a generous and heartfelt way, the beautiful humans from his past and present sharing pictures and stories on the For The Love of Dr. Johnny Fever group, friends and STRANGERS who have offered and delivered comfort, prayers, gifts of service, lasagne (seriously), etc., even my local Buy Nothing Briarcrest/Ridgecrest, Shoreline, WA groups for their contributions to his planned "memorial"...

Without ALL of you, the groundlessness would be unbearable and I would certainly and swiftly break from the weight of this. I am cracked and structurally unsound, for sure, but you all are my glue. The LAST thing in the world he would ever want is to have caused what he loved most about me to dissolve. The music WILL return; please be patient and listen for the sound. When it does, WHEN that happens, it will be the most authentic version of it that I can muster. He would have had it no other way. Until then, just throw me a shovel and wait until I come up for air. I'm doing the best I can, and even if I don't know what that is at times, I'm trusting the process FOR ONCE.

Thanks.