Many of you know and love our dear friend Odin, a staple of the Cambridge community across roles at the legendary Hubba Hubba (a sex-positive alternative store and Cambridge landmark for 40+ years); at The Middle East as a bartender, security guard, core member of multiple residencies (Hellbound, The Orphanage), and familiar face at iconic Middle East residencies including Xmortis, Mood, Elysium, Mourning Night and beyond; and in the Boston hardcore scene (Hard 2 Kill), amongst others.

In early June, Odin was hospitalized in Galway, Ireland after several weeks of severe abdominal pain. Odin spent two weeks in the hospital and was diagnosed with an intestinal rupture, severe Crohn’s disease in the small bowel, and terminal ileitis, and doctors said Odin was “2 centimeters from sepsis.”

Odin returned to MA in late August and is now in the care of the internal medicine team at MGH. As of Sept 18, Odin is still awaiting test results regarding a large lesion in the liver, and has been prescribed an expensive course of medications and infusions.

So far, this medical emergency has entailed:

4+ months of being unable to work

3+ months in Ireland, immediately after moving to a new apartment in the Greater Boston area

A period of trial & error finding the correct medications and treatments for Crohn’s, a lifelong autoimmune disease

A period of readjustment upon returning home and finding the correct course of medications, which will be prohibitively expensive despite insurance

Confronting permanent lifestyle changes that will upend many of Odin’s personal and professional goals—Odin has already had to miss out on various performances and demonstrations at a half-dozen shows and events for Hard 2 Kill, HellBound, The Orphanage and more

Odin is humble, stubborn, and private, and initially, was reluctant to even communicate the gravity of this health situation, let alone to accept our collective help. Thankfully, Odin has budged and accepts that this is a necessary evil.

For a lifetime, Odin has been dealt cards with a depth and breadth of adversity that would break most of us, myself very much included. I know very few people with Odin's resilience and strength, and even fewer who persevere with the same stoic grace—you’re far more likely to find Odin going out of their way to help others than you are to hear them complain about their own struggles.

To anyone reading this, please support this GoFundMe if you are able. Our communities step up in times of need, especially for individuals like Odin. As a beloved pillar of the nightlife, hardcore, goth, punk, and kink & fetish scenes in Cambridge and beyond, Odin has worked tirelessly as a bartender, security guard, DJ, vocalist, activist, multimedia artist, kink/fetish & sexual health advocate to create and maintain safe, successful spaces and events for marginalized groups and all of us—punks, goths, metalheads, hardcore kids and assorted freaks and weirdos—who call places Central Square our home.

Footnote: for anyone interested in contributing to a benefit event/show that is in the works to support this GoFundMe, please reach out to Conor. Text me if you have my number, DM me on Instagram if you don’t and we can take it from there - @babymyths.