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<div>On April 6th 2026, our friend Eric Osterlund was thrown from a horse in South Africa and suffered a serious spinal cord injury — a burst fracture of his C5 vertebra. He underwent emergency six-hour surgery in Cape Town and is currently stable in ICU.
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<div>Eric has an incomplete spinal cord injury, which means there is hope for recovery — but the road ahead is long, uncertain, and expensive.
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<div><strong>Who is Eric?</strong>
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<div>If you know Eric, you know he lives life at full intensity. He's a man who has done 116 skydives, who surfs like it's a language he was born speaking, who kite surfs, paraglides, scuba dives, rides motorbikes, and has hung off the side of planes doing backflips. He's been to Burning Man, travelled the world, and built a career as a workshop facilitator and educator — running retreats and sessions across Bali, Berlin, Amsterdam, Mexico, and beyond. He hosts a podcast called _Toy Talk_ on Spotify and has written a book. He speaks English, French, and Spanish, German &amp; Portuguese.
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<div>But more than any of that — Eric is one of those people who fills a room with energy. He's constantly laughing, cracking the worst (best?) jokes, and making everyone around him feel alive. He lives by the principle of pushing your edge, exploring who you truly are, and encouraging everyone around him to do the same.
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<div>The idea that this man — who has built his entire life around movement, connection, and physical expression — is now lying in an ICU bed in Cape Town unable to move his body below the neck is devastating.
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<div><strong>What happened?</strong>
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<div>Eric sustained a C5 burst fracture with an incomplete spinal cord injury (classified as ASIA B). In simple terms: the vertebra in his neck shattered on impact, damaging his spinal cord. He currently has sensation below the injury but no voluntary movement from roughly the shoulders down.
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<div>He underwent an emergency corpectomy — a six-hour surgery to remove the shattered vertebra and decompress the spinal cord. The surgery went well though will need further surgeries and therapies to stabilize to begin his road to recovery.
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<div>The word "incomplete" is important — it means his spinal cord was not fully severed, and there is potential for recovery. But the extent of that recovery is unknown and will unfold over months and years.
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<div><strong>Why we need your help</strong>
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<div>Eric has travel insurance that covers up to $250,000 USD in medical expenses. That sounds like a lot, but spinal cord injuries are among the most expensive injuries to treat and rehabilitate:
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<div>• His ICU stay, surgery, and hospitalization in Cape Town will consume a significant portion of that insurance
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<div>• Spinal cord injury rehabilitation is intensive — typically 4-8 months of daily specialist physiotherapy and occupational therapy
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<div>• Medical repatriation (a medical flight home) can cost upwards of six-figures alone
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<div>• Depending on his recovery, he may need a wheelchair, home adaptations, assistive equipment, and ongoing care
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<div>• Eric is self-employed. He has no employer sick pay, no safety net. His ability to earn an income has been taken from him overnight
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<div>The costs beyond his insurance will easily reach six figures. We are asking for additional funds to give Eric the best possible chance at recovery without the added stress of financial ruin in the process.
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<div><strong>How funds will be used</strong>
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<div>• Medical and rehabilitation costs beyond insurance coverage
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<div>• Medical repatriation when he is stable enough to travel
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<div>• Mobility equipment (wheelchair, adaptive devices)
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<div>• Home adaptations for accessibility
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<div>• Living expenses during recovery while he is unable to work
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<div>All costs will be documented and kept organized to ensure your support goes to where it matters.
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<div><strong>What your support funds</strong>
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<div>Eric is not a medical bill. He is a teacher, a workshop facilitator, a podcast host, and a human who has spent years helping other people come home to their bodies. This fundraiser is not about keeping a body alive in a bed. It is about carrying Eric through rehab and back into the work he is meant to do.
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<div>The early signs are here. In the days since surgery, mobility in his arms has started returning. He is already talking about returning to facilitation, reaching out to NGOs and governments for longer-term support, and getting back on his feet - both literally and metaphorically!
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<div>Insurance takes him to the hospital door. Everything beyond, the months of rehab, the repatriation, the equipment, and the life he is rebuilding, comes from here. Every pound, euro, and dollar you give goes into his future, not into immediate bills alone.
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<div><strong>Who is organising this fundraiser?</strong>
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<div>This fundraiser was set up by Maximilian Stein, a close friend of Eric Osterlund, and is co-organised by Charles Osterlund (Eric's brother) and Adam Murphy (close friend). Funds are received into Maximilian's bank account and will be transferred directly to Eric and his partner Anna to cover his medical and recovery costs. Eric is currently in ICU and unable to manage his finances. His brother Charles is involved as co-organiser to ensure full transparency and family oversight of how funds are used.
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<div><strong>How you can help</strong>
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<div>Any donation right now makes a difference. If you can't donate, sharing this page is just as valuable — the wider this reaches, the more support Eric gets.
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<div>Eric has spent years helping others explore, grow, and connect. <strong>Now he needs us!</strong>
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Help Eric recover from a serious spinal cord injury

<div>I'm James, or jam, and I got diagnosed with stage 4 terminal brain cancer in July 2021, at the age of 26. At the time they gave me 12 to 18 months to live. I'm writing this in February 2023, 19 months into the diagnosis.
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<div>Me, my Dad (Paul), and a lamb. Approx 1997.
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<div>3/4 members of 'album club' enjoying our Christmas records, December 2022.
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<div>Since my diagnosis, I've had three brain surgeries, 6 weeks of radiotherapy, 11 rounds of chemotherapy, developed epilepsy with frequent seizures (3 of which got me blue-lighted to A&amp;E), been hospitalised numerous times, had Cushing's syndrome, and overall had a horrific time with fatigue and pain from my treatments.
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<div>I've also started working again, developed unbreakable bonds with my friends and family, spent time with my beloved pets, seen two of my best friends get engaged, found the love of my life, and moved into my own flat.
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<div>I saw a shooting star with my best friends, on holiday in Wales, on the eve of my birthday. I took this as a sign to do whatever I can to get better.
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<div>I walked home from every brain surgery after just 3 days (via Rinkoff's Bakery). I've never let my diagnosis get in the way of my life.
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<div>My recovery so far has been hell, but I've learned so much from it and have even more drive to live at the end of it.
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<div>I've never really thought of myself as a fighter but I guess I am, and I don't want to die. This is my priority; to live my life to the fullest and make the world a better place for other people.
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<div>I'm looking to raise £100,000 to cover medical bills and expenses for my family and me. I am looking to go to Germany and have a breakthrough experimental treatment, OV therapy, which could cure me.
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<div>I want to be a pioneer in finding a cure. And yes, that will involve getting herpes (or similiar) injected into my brain.
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<div>Love, James.
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<div><strong>OV (Oncolytic Virus) Therapy #brainherpes</strong>
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<div>All current treatments for brain cancer are palliative. <a href="https://www.thebraintumourcharity.org/brain-tumour-diagnosis-treatment/types-of-brain-tumour-adult/glioblastoma/treating-glioblastoma/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Chemotherapy and radiation only serves to prolong lif</a>e, on average only for a few months. James has been very lucky in that he has responded extraordinarily well to these treatments, even if the chemotherapy has taken its toll on his mind and body. James' latest MRI scan showed that, although his response has been good overall, the tumour is still growing in some places and we are running out of treatment options offered by the NHS. Because of this, we have elected to go for OV therapy in Germany.
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<div><em>What is OV therapy? </em>
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<div>OV therapy is a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oncolytic_virus" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">pioneering cancer treatment</a> which can be used in multiple solid tumours. It infects and kills cancer cells, and then provokes an immune response in the human body, 'unmasking' cancer cells which were previously invisible to the immune system. There have been long-noted links between infection with viruses and spontaneous remission of advanced cancers - we are trying to access this for James in a safe, controlled environment.
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<div><em>Why OV for brain cancer?</em>
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<div>OV's have shown a lot of promise in treating brain cancers, which are notoriously 'immunologically cold' - this means normal immune responses which fight cancer cells don't work as well on this type of cancer. <a href="https://brainstrust.org.uk/glioblastoma/gbm-treatment-trials/#:~:text=Oncolytic%25252525252520virotherapy%25252525252520(OVT)%25252525252520is%25252525252520a,while%25252525252520inducing%25252525252520antitumor%25252525252520immune%25252525252520responses." target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">You can find lots more information about them here</a>. OV's for brain cancer have <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-022-01897-x" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">recently been approved for use in Japan</a>, showing their promise. We just can't access them in the UK.
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<div><em>Why Germany?</em>
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<div>While looking for alternative treatment plans for James, we were directed towards a <a href="https://www.atgesundheitinstitute.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">clinic based in Germany which offers pioneering OV</a> therapy for brain cancer. You can read more about what they do at the clinic <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fonc.2020.00702/full" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">here</a>. The clinic has had amazing results previously, through novel 'virus delivery' mechanisms (!!!). They have begun administering the viruses through a port (called an <a href="https://www.mskcc.org/cancer-care/patient-education/faq-about-ommaya-reservoirs-and-ommaya-taps" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Ommaya reservoir</a>), which is placed directly into the brain via a short surgery.
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<div>Although this treatment is entirely experimental, the clinic in Germany is the best possible place to seek this treatment. James is a great candidate for this treatment; he is young, fit, and most importantly has an enormous will to live and thrive.
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<div><strong>Where will my money go? </strong>
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<div>The reason for this gofundme is to finance the treatment in Germany, including; travel, the initial treatment, scans, and consultations with specialist doctors. James will be having FET-PET-MRI scans (a specialist type of scan) in Munich, and be being treated in Dusseldorf. Finally, we hope to use the money to pay for repeat trips to Germany for further virus infusions down the line (the frequency of these will be determined by James' initial response to treatment) and also for further scans so that we can keep track of what's going on in James' head!
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<div>The estimated costs for treatment have been given to us as being around <strong>£100,000</strong>, which is why we have set the target here to begin with.
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<div>As we go through this, we will post regular updates so you can keep up with how James is going. Thank you!!
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<div>Showing off my scar after my debulking surgery.
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<div>Celebrating my 'death day' (15 months after my diagnosis) which conveniently fell on Halloween 2022.
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<div>Just after radiotherapy finished, with my dog Willow and my girlfriend Lucy (in order of importance).
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<div>In Portmeirion with my best friends, October 2022.
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<div>After my third big seizure in May 2022. I was hospitalised for three days with 'Todd's Paralysis' which is essentially when you get all the symptoms of a stroke, without having a stroke. I couldn't speak or move my right hand side properly.
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<div>In the Barbican conservatory at a work party, summer 2022.
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<div>Feb 2022 - my chemotherapy and steroid medications made me achy, grumpy and uncomfortable. My mum bought me a foot spa to try and ease the pain (just out of picture).
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<div>My 28th Birthday, 9/10/22
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<div>In Wales, more best friends, October 2022.
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<div>Being assessed in A&amp;E after my first big seizure, Halloween 2021.
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<div>In the Lake district, pre brain tumour.
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<div>In Japan with my bestie Dev, 2019. The last time I went abroad before all of this happened.
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Adam Murphy

Adam Murphy

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