Brain Injury Cost Me Everything I Had
Donation protected
My name is Jeremy.
I used to be a Parkour Instructor at Brooklyn Zoo NY. It's my life passion and a dream position that was more than just a job, it was what I felt I was made to do. I've been practicing it for 15 years and instructing for close to half that time. Sharing the experience of learning through movement, bettering yourself through tests of your mind and body and applying that philosophy to all obstacles in life brought me true happiness.
A few months ago, an accidental fall, unrelated to Parkour, left me with a broken nose and a traumatic brain injury. It cost me the two jobs I had and has lead to permanent brain damage. My motor skills are no longer what they used to be. I have trouble gripping things. It sometimes takes me ten minutes to get up in the morning due to dizziness. It also takes extreme concentration to get started walking for the day, and is exhausting by the end of it. My sleep is troubled and my eyes are sensitive to sun and bright lights.
This left me unable to work for too long, and I'm now in serious debt and facing homelessness. I'm still looking for work, and because the accident did not happen in the workplace, I am not entitled to workers compensation. I have been solely surviving off donations to eat, sometimes going days without doing so. I am nearly $3k behind on rent and will be evicted if I don't have at least a majority portion of it paid by the 31st of this month. At this moment, I will not be able to meet this deadline and will have to find somewhere else to live. I have no savings and nowhere else to go.
I still can't tell but this is looking like the end of my parkour career. While I have made substantial progress in healing, I am still not myself and my spirits have never been lower. I may need to start from square one and find a new life path, and that's going to be next to impossible if I end up on the street again. The thought of it alone has been weighing me down as much as my condition. I desperately need help. If there's anything you could contribute to this fund, I would be eternally grateful.
I used to be a Parkour Instructor at Brooklyn Zoo NY. It's my life passion and a dream position that was more than just a job, it was what I felt I was made to do. I've been practicing it for 15 years and instructing for close to half that time. Sharing the experience of learning through movement, bettering yourself through tests of your mind and body and applying that philosophy to all obstacles in life brought me true happiness.
A few months ago, an accidental fall, unrelated to Parkour, left me with a broken nose and a traumatic brain injury. It cost me the two jobs I had and has lead to permanent brain damage. My motor skills are no longer what they used to be. I have trouble gripping things. It sometimes takes me ten minutes to get up in the morning due to dizziness. It also takes extreme concentration to get started walking for the day, and is exhausting by the end of it. My sleep is troubled and my eyes are sensitive to sun and bright lights.
This left me unable to work for too long, and I'm now in serious debt and facing homelessness. I'm still looking for work, and because the accident did not happen in the workplace, I am not entitled to workers compensation. I have been solely surviving off donations to eat, sometimes going days without doing so. I am nearly $3k behind on rent and will be evicted if I don't have at least a majority portion of it paid by the 31st of this month. At this moment, I will not be able to meet this deadline and will have to find somewhere else to live. I have no savings and nowhere else to go.
I still can't tell but this is looking like the end of my parkour career. While I have made substantial progress in healing, I am still not myself and my spirits have never been lower. I may need to start from square one and find a new life path, and that's going to be next to impossible if I end up on the street again. The thought of it alone has been weighing me down as much as my condition. I desperately need help. If there's anything you could contribute to this fund, I would be eternally grateful.
Organizer
Jeremy Gallant
Organizer
Brooklyn, NY