Willis's Medical Fund

Dear friends and community,

As you many of you may or may not know, Willis took a "mini-retirement" from his decade long career as a Special Education teacher with the NYC Department of Education last year to pursue a year traveling abroad.

On the evening of February 28th, Willis was struck by a car in Bangkok, Thailand, while crossing the street at a pedestrian crosswalk. He sustained a traumatic brain injury (TBI) and was rushed to a nearby hospital, where it was determined he had a skull fracture, multiple brain bleeds, and swelling in his brain. In the weeks since the accident, Willis has struggled with severe symptoms related to this TBI.

His family was able to fly him back to New York this week with a private medical escort and he has since been admitted to Stony Brook University Hospital for continued treatment. Due to his condition, he was not cleared to fly without a medical escort team. Given his sabbatical from work and planned travel, Willis did not enroll in health insurance and his family has had to pay out of pocket for his care as medical costs continue to mount.

If you know Willis, you know he loves to travel, loves to crack a joke, and loves to play therapist, but would actually be the one making sure everyone has a good time at the rave or ensuring that everyone has a ride home.

Any contribution, prayers, thoughts, 11:11 wishes would be greatly appreciated! Please note: there is another gofundme created and shared by Ricky's colleagues. Please feel free to use either one!

Update: We are overwhelmed and truly humbled by the amount of support we have received in the last week. Willis and our family are eternally grateful for all the donations, prayers, and words of comfort we have received from older friends, newer friends, and friends of friends.

Willis was able to enroll in emergency Medicaid and will continue to receive care at Stony Brook University Hospital until he is cleared to be moved to a TBI rehab facility. The funds raised from this GoFundMe and other one created by Ricky's coworkers will go towards the medical costs accrued in Thailand, including the private medical escort that was necessary to bring him home.

Any words of gratitude or appreciation hardly seems like enough. From the bottom of our hearts, we are truly so very grateful for all the support we have received both from those who know and love Willis and those who've never met him but love us and donated simply because we shared this. Thank you.

Maria