Update: Tuesday, March 8
Munchi is still in Hawaii, getting his passport sorted out (it was lost somehow when he blacked out, along with his wallet and phone). He says he doesn’t need his painkillers as much anymore, which is good, but still gets headaches when he concentrates too much on writing music, so he is sticking to simpler edits for the time being. He also has some dizziness and occasional memory loss. He isn’t going to be touring or taking on new projects for a while after he goes home. But he’s still really happy about all of the support and energized by so many people reaching out, and feeling better every day.
Update: Wednesday, March 2
As you can see, we’ve exceeded the goal for Munchi. Thank you so much to everyone who contributed money and helped get the word out. We’ve bought him a ticket home, his meds are covered, and most importantly he’s in a great mood after seeing so much love and support come in. I think everyone feels that it has been an inspiring couple of days.
As we exceeded our goal, the money is going into an escrow account until we see the hospital bill, which we expect to be astronomical. We plan on getting a health care negotiator to try and get the bill down. I’ve spoken to a lawyer and an accountant and they advised me that this is the right way to do it. On the bright side, once he’s home, he is covered under The Netherlands health care system. There will still be fundraising parties, and all the money will go to Munchi’s bills. Anyone who needs help with logistics, feel free to contact me. holler /at / djayres /dot/ com
Tuesday, March 1
About two weeks ago, our friend Munchi had a seizure caused by an intracerebral hemorrhage, with no prior history of illness. He is from the Netherlands but was on tour in Hawaii at the time. He spent 9 hours in a coma and 11 days in the hospital recovering. He has no medical insurance in the US. His medication is expensive and he needs to get back to Rotterdam. Our goal is to pay for his ticket home, get his Hawaiian friends reimbursed for his meds and eventually pay for his hospital bills. We haven’t seen the bills yet but we imagine $2000 is an extremely conservative estimate as much of that time was spent in ICU. And this is likely something he will be dealing with for the rest of his life. We’re asking friends and fans of Munchi to give whatever you can.
