Update on fundraising efforts for Jeffrey Chock’s surgery

As promised, here’s an update on Trinidadian photographer Jeffrey Chock’s condition.

As luck would have it, Jeffrey left two messages today on the Friends of Jeffrey Chock Facebook group page, so this info is from the horse’s mouth:

“Thanks to all of you for caring enough to ask after my health after looking at the Reaper in his face. Here is what happened.

I flew to Toronto to give a paper and photographic presentation at the conference concerning Carnival held in connection with Caribana at York University. Instead, upon arrival I got very sick and had to be carried to a hospital emergency room. It was revealed that I had a case of internal bleeding caused by a stomach ulcer. The situation seemed at first fairly straightforward to treat. However, a few hours after being diagnosed I was struck down by a massive heart attack while still in the hospital. It was later also found that my kidneys were functioning at only 20% capacity. This complicated matters dramatically. All together I spend seven days in the hospital. I have been told that going home was out of the question before they perform an angiogram to locate the blockage in my arteries, and that in all likelihood I would have to undergo an angioplasty.”

and

“Since I have no insurance, the onus is on me to pay the anticipated costs of the procedures upfront. We don’t yet have the exact figures but what we do know is that the amount will be significant and that this has to be done as soon as possible in order to avert the risk of another attack. Besides the angiogram and angioplasty I also have to deal with the seven days hospital bill ($2500 CAN. a day, not including doctors’ fees and tests).

I am at present recovering at a friend’s home in Chicago where I was driven by car. I will return to Toronto as soon as the doctors have made the final decision about when the procedure can be performed safely and when we have resolved the financial complications. In the meantime, I am happy to report that I am reasonably stable (give or take the occasional chest pain) and comfortable, thanks to my friend’s hospitality and to your good wishes.”

So far the following people have contributed towards the cost of Jeffrey’s surgery:

- Gabriella Dimitrov
- Wendy Warnick
- Justin Benn
- Candice Rodriguez
- Sandy Stoll
- yours truly

Many, many thanks to you all, and thanks in advance to those of you who plan on donating. We’ve raised US$800 so far (not $980 as the ChipIn widget says—see explanation below), and I know we can raise much more.

(Note also that the ChipIn widget is showing 9 contributors, which is a miscount. For an accurate listing of contributors, please check the “Contributors” tab on the Facebook widget page. I have written to ChipIn about the problem).

If you’re unsure about how to use ChipIn, please feel free to email me (replacing the words “at” and “dot” with the relevant punctuation marks). And yes, ChipIn and PayPal do accept Trinidad and Tobago credit cards. Just so you know, PayPal skims 3.2% off each donation, and a small fee is charged for actually accessing the funds.

If you would prefer not to make your donation online and live in Trinidad, please drop me a line and I’ll arrange to get it from you. I myself plan on making another larger donation when I pass the money over to Jeffery. Offline donations will also be listed in the ChipIn contributors list.

Thank you all!

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