Kris Koller's Medical Recovery

December 13, 2022, started as a typical day. Creative writer, Podcast host, Comic Book Aficionado, Pop Culture and Sports Expert, and most importantly our dear friend, woke up as a healthy 46-year-old. Kris spent the day at work, like always. A hard worker, he made sure to go above and beyond sorting and boxing Comic Books. With Christmas quickly approaching, it was important to him that the last-minute rush of parents and fans would be able to find their favorite superhero comics to wrap under the tree. Little did Kris know that he was edging closer to the moment that would change his life forever. Within a few short hours, and thankfully made it home, Kris would suffer a hemorrhage in the pons area of the brain and causing a major stroke.

With Kris’s the support of his brother Ken, loved ones, colleagues, and friends; the Puck Podcast and Nerdibles Podcasts have set up this GoFundMe page to cover the medical expenses, loss of income, rehabilitation time, and relocation costs for Kris Koller.

First, we want to tell you a bit about Kris. He is known to be a very independent, generous person and hardworking single person. Kris is the type of person that, sometimes to a fault, puts his friends and family before himself. Since Covid hit he has had his life drastically change. Kris lived at home, taking care of his aging parents. Unfortunately, during a time when the world was already in turmoil, Kris's got worse. Kris’s father suffered a hemorrhage in the pons area of the brain and suffered a very similar stroke to his own. This required more of Kris’s assistance. To make matters worse, not long after his father’s stroke, his mother took a serious fall. Due to her fall and increasing illness, she and Kris’s father were placed in a care home. Kris spent nearly all of his free time visiting them and caring for their needs. Kris selflessly gave up some of the things he loved the most to be there for his parents. On February 2, 2021, Kris’s mom passed. It took a devastating toll on him. Like most of us, Kris’s mom was his everything. She was his anchor, his confidante, and most importantly the one who would tell him everything was going to be ok. Kris, like always, put on a brave face and soldiered on. He still had his father to look after, which after the passing of his mom became more difficult. His dad’s health began to deteriorate after his mom was going, and his dad needed more support from Kris. As strong as Kris was, this was taking a toll on him. During the summer of 2022, Kris’s dad passed. Once more Kris fought through the pain. As much as he tried not to show it, it was apparent that the deaths of his parents were impacting him and slowly eating away at his health. Two days before Kris suffered his stroke, he was at a friend’s Christmas Party. They were laughing, joking, having a white elephant exchange, and playing games. Even the day it happened there were no signs of impending doom. During the day, like most Tuesdays, he was texting his podcast co-hosts with new information to discuss on the next day’s recording.

What Happened

On the night of the stroke, Kris had gotten home around 7:00 and sat down to watch a hockey game. Twenty minutes later Kris was flat on his back, on his bed making a desperate call that may have just saved his life. He called his friends Rich and Beth, who just so happened to be walking out of their house to run an errand. Now Kris doesn’t usually call anyone, he’s a texter, so when his friends got the call, they asked if he meant to call. This time he did. Kris was in a panic. He kept saying “Something is wrong. Something is wrong.” Rich and Beth immediately raced to Kris’s, Beth calling 911 on the way. Kris’s friends reached his house before the paramedics arrived. Rich stayed with Kris keeping him talking and awake. The more Kris spoke the less coherent he became. Luckily for Kris, the paramedics were there within a couple of minutes of his friends arriving. They were able to immediately see that Kris was having a stroke and begin triage to rush him to the hospital.

Once at the hospital, the doctors quickly confirmed Kris’s condition and rushed him to the ICU. Kris spent the next week and a half sedated while the swelling in his brain subsided. During this time, in the ICU, Kris developed pneumonia, and then an infection from the ventilator tube helping him to breathe.

Because Kris has a modest income and only state-provided insurance a lot of his medical expenses will not be covered.

As early as this week, medical bills are beginning to pour in. We do not know how high they will reach, but anything will help. Therefore, we are asking for assistance in covering the accumulated costs between the ambulance, care at the local hospital, treatment at the area hospital, as well as the cost of the rehabilitation center, and physical therapy required to help Kris return to a normal life he can once he recovers.

We know that life happens fast and tragic; unexpected moments can happen to any of us. If you pray, please pray. If you manifest, please manifest, we ask you to send Kris good thoughts and energy every day. Share Kris’s story across as many platforms as you have available.

And if you are able, please donate for Kris’s medical bills, moving expenses and rehabilitation. Any help would be greatly appreciated to ease some of the stress of this time.