I fell off a bike into an outpouring of charity. But Americans shouldn’t have to seek out strangers to pay health bills.
Dustin Harbin was involved in a mishap.
I was recently in a bicycle accident which resulted in me landing–by all evidence, directly on the mouth–face first on the asphalt. I’m not sure what happened, because the fall was hard enough to erase my memory of it occurring. I just woke up in a pool of blood and teeth, and into a long period of healing and reconstruction.
Dustin did survive, but not without consequences.
But paying for it… it’s going to be a lot. I, like many artists, have no insurance, not to mention no money, no savings, et cetera. I just looked at the bill from the hospital, and it’s blood-curdlingly large. But the immediate bills I need to prepare for are the dentist and oral surgeon. Costs include oral surgery, reconstruction, and followups, bridge replacement, and replacing 1-2 teeth entirely. I’m not sure what this will total up to, but I’m guessing more–maybe much more–than $25,000, so I’m starting there.
Being an artist Dustin took to his art to detail how crowdfunding health care has become a recourse for the uninsured. The New York Times ran the long-form piece in its opinion section.