My best friend Raimy needs your help.. Please read below. xo holly

Dear Family and Friends,

As you may know by now, I’ve been in bed since late September recovering from a freak accident that left me with an ankle broken in three places. I was hospitalized and required emergency Ankle ORIF surgery after slipping on wet grass at a drive-in in Upstate New York. I needed plates and screws to reattach my foot to the rest of my body. The surgery and recovery have indeed been incredibly painful and I’ve mostly relied on a daily cocktail of anti-inflammatory drugs, painkillers and anti-anxiety medications to maintain my health. I am one of the 47 million Americans without health insurance and part 10.3% of Americans currently unemployed.

The hospital I was at was a charitable organization run by the Bon Secours health program. At first, the bill for 48 hours in the hospital was around $31,000.00. The Bon Secours recognized my dire situation and quickly provided monetary assistance to cover the entire bill for my hospital stay. As Perez would say, Amazeballs!

Unfortunately, the doctors and anesthesiologists do not fall under the umbrella of health care organization. They are both part of large corporate run medical groups where patients are simply numbers on file. Now, the surgeon’s bill is up to $7,700.00 and growing. They have threatened me with “further collection proceedings” if I cannot pay them in two weeks. In addition, I’ve begun receiving medical bills from the ER doctor, and the ambulance company to the tune of $4,000.00.

Because I’m recovering in New York, I had to discontinue my unemployment benefits in Los Angeles. I also had to cancel five job interviews, in a failing economy. In addition to the months of rehab I now require to walk again, I cannot even work to raise money to begin paying these debts.

I have been keeping a blog of my experience, I'm calling it THE OUCHIE. I would be most grateful if you would please forward this blog around to your friends, family and contacts. Because while the ticker news can focus on people suffering from bigger stories than mine, I am now part of the 1.5 million Americans that will go bankrupt this year because of my lack of health coverage.

I have been forced to move back in with my parents, to live in a tiny back office in their already small apartment and I have exhausted my bank account. I may start 2010 on food stamps, but I will absolutely not let this experience break my mind or spirit. I still believe in one persons ability to make a difference and so from a former complacent hipster, please take a moment to read my blog and share it freely on the web (Twitter, Facebook, Digg, etc.).

If you have the means, and would like to donate, I will be curating a personalized mix CD for donations between $50-100, an original sketch for donations of more than $100 a I’ll framed version for donations over $500. My goal is to get 12,000 people to donate $1 by Thanksgiving. Here is the link.

I know we’ve all been affected by this terrible economy; I don’t have any expectations other than your ability to share THE OUCHIE within your own community. This could have happened to anyone, a simple slip on some wet grass could keep me grounded for years to come and I'm not really into being part of all these statistics.

Thanks in advance and I'm sorry about the mass email.

Best,

Raimy Rosenduft