Matt is originally from St. Paul, MN, and has lived in Chile for twelve years. He has faced all sorts of struggles during that time, but none quite like this one. 

On the night of September 10th, he and several close friends were leaving a neighborhood restaurant here in Santiago. Matt turned to our friend and tripped and fell directly on his kneecap, which immediately shattered into 6+ pieces. Freak accident with a boring story! Everyone who knows Matt has been surprised to hear that it was not his bike, which he rides everywhere, that finally got him. 

Matt is a private English teacher by profession, in which things like consistency and benefits are... tricky. The most recent insurance plan he had expired in January 2014. He has been working from home since just a few days after his knee broke in an effort to start offsetting his medical bills. Some of those costs include two emergency room visits (the first was not well-equipped for a broken kneecap), several doctors, crutches, medications, and countless taxis (a large cost for those who commute primarily by bike). However, this fundraiser is only meant to help with the cost of his operation, in which his kneecap was rebuilt using screws and wires on September 15th; this fundraiser includes the cost of physical therapy too. 

Please, help Matt move forward with his life as quickly and painlessly as possible. Every little bit is much appreciated. He will be at an in-person fundraiser held by his local friends here in Santiago this Saturday, October 11th, and this page will be updated to reflect that. We (Matt and Emily) hope this GoFundMe will make it easy for our friends and family back home in the United States help us out as well.

Thanks for stopping by and reading Matt's story!