Love for Lolo: Broken femur fundraising
Donation protected
I got home after a shift on May 13th and walked to the second floor, I slipped on the top step, fell backward down a flight of stairs ultimately breaking my femur in four places. I am extremely fortunate that I didn’t damage my head or neck in the fall. I received immediate surgery and now have a titanium rod in my right thigh (stronger than ever, eventually).
I work two jobs but am ineligible for insurance through either because I don’t work more than 30 hours a week at each location. Through a program called COBRA I was able to retroactively re-activate my insurance from my previous employer at the cost I was paying, about $450 a month. The insurance isn’t great but it should cover most of my hospital expenses and I’ll be left with a high deductible of around $7000. The head orthopedic surgeon who performed my surgery said I may not be fully mobile for 6-12 weeks which means I won’t have a steady source of income for that time. This is working under the assumption that those jobs will be waiting for me at a time when work is in high demand in anticipation of the summer season.
If you know me you know that I love what I do for a profession, I’d much rather be at work right now but it’s not something I can do from home. Every day is a little better but I need to be realistic and focus on my physical health, which means I need to ask for some help financially. Unfortunately working in service offers a lot of short-term goal fulfillment and it’s difficult at times to focus on long-term scenarios. My own physical health was not something that I’d ever had to consider which is why this incident has completely blind-sided me and I’m left here asking for assistance. Anything helps, not worrying about bills from the hospital will hopefully get me back to serving y’all again and I can’t wait to get back to work.
For those not familiar with our bartending community in New York I’ll just add that we try to give back and support charitable causes through volunteer and fund-raising efforts as often as we’re able. For example, two years ago shortly after Hurricane Maria and Harvey hit Puerto Rico and Texas respectively, a couple hundred of us volunteered for a one day event in which we raised over $60,000 in aid. My goal is nowhere near as lofty but I know that even outside of that community people will generally help if they’re able to.
My femur may be broken in four places but my spirit remains intact, a thank you in advance to all who have the means to help me through this.
Much love to all of y’all
-Lolo
I work two jobs but am ineligible for insurance through either because I don’t work more than 30 hours a week at each location. Through a program called COBRA I was able to retroactively re-activate my insurance from my previous employer at the cost I was paying, about $450 a month. The insurance isn’t great but it should cover most of my hospital expenses and I’ll be left with a high deductible of around $7000. The head orthopedic surgeon who performed my surgery said I may not be fully mobile for 6-12 weeks which means I won’t have a steady source of income for that time. This is working under the assumption that those jobs will be waiting for me at a time when work is in high demand in anticipation of the summer season.
If you know me you know that I love what I do for a profession, I’d much rather be at work right now but it’s not something I can do from home. Every day is a little better but I need to be realistic and focus on my physical health, which means I need to ask for some help financially. Unfortunately working in service offers a lot of short-term goal fulfillment and it’s difficult at times to focus on long-term scenarios. My own physical health was not something that I’d ever had to consider which is why this incident has completely blind-sided me and I’m left here asking for assistance. Anything helps, not worrying about bills from the hospital will hopefully get me back to serving y’all again and I can’t wait to get back to work.
For those not familiar with our bartending community in New York I’ll just add that we try to give back and support charitable causes through volunteer and fund-raising efforts as often as we’re able. For example, two years ago shortly after Hurricane Maria and Harvey hit Puerto Rico and Texas respectively, a couple hundred of us volunteered for a one day event in which we raised over $60,000 in aid. My goal is nowhere near as lofty but I know that even outside of that community people will generally help if they’re able to.
My femur may be broken in four places but my spirit remains intact, a thank you in advance to all who have the means to help me through this.
Much love to all of y’all
-Lolo
Organizer
Orlando Franklin McCray
Organizer
New York, NY
