lennybruce reblogged
A friend of a friend was attacked by a redneck in the town he just moved to and beaten until his arm was a fractured mess. His insurance is barely covering anything and he’s lost the ability to play music. Everyone who saw him being beaten just stood there and watched, many goading on the attacker. This is a family in desperate need. If you can’t contribute, at least spread this news. Thank you.
My beloved husband and father of two, Matt Morris, was viciously attacked on August 2, 2014. We had just moved to a new town and the locals didn’t take kindly to a city kid in a country town. It was one man at the pub and grill in Loda, IL. He followed Matt as he was leaving to go home that night in the parking lot. He told him that he was teaching him a lesson for showing his face where he isn’t welcome. The man starting swinging on my husband and Matt was knocked unconscious. When Matt came to, he was on the ground being kicked repeated in the ribs, head, chest arm… basically all over. There was a crowd gathered around watching. Nobody tried to pull the guy off of Matt, and in fact, many laughed and cheered him on. The whole time, Matt was begging him to stop and asking him over and over, why was he doing this to him. After the guy got tired of beating Matt up and walked away, there was still a crowd around him and Matt begged for someone to call an ambulance because he felt his arm was broken. It just hung there when he stood up. Nobody even pulled out their phone. They all went inside slowly, saying things like “don’t come back” and “don’t show your face in here again.” Matt walked home with his arm hanging and called the ambulance. The police were called and talked to our friend Randy who was at the house. The police didn’t even try contacting Matt while he was in the hospital. I was out of town finishing some moving and had no idea until he called me in tears. He said that the ambulance was on its way and he was pretty sure his arm was broken.
The ambulance rushed him to a hospital in Gibson City, which is where I went to go see him. The doctor there x-rayed his arm and said that is was broken in many different places. The doctor said that the bones were shattered and he was not confident enough to perform the surgery needed for it, and transferred Matt to the hospital in Urbana. They tried to get his pain under control until the doctor came and looked at his arm in the morning. That morning, another surgeon turned down performing the surgery because the damage was so extensive. Matt was attacked on a Saturday night at around 10pm and it wasn’t until Monday, around 8am that they found a surgeon who was willing to go in there and try to fix it. During surgery, the surgeon who took on the job, discovered that it was even worse when he got inside than the x-rays even let on. Another bone in the arm had to be broken to fix some of the other broken/fractured bones. Matt was told he will never be able to play guitar again, which is Matt’s absolute passion in life. He’s been playing for over 15 years and was currently working on several collaborative projects with other musicians to produce potential albums. He’s been told that he should get about 30% range of usage of his left arm and hand back, if he gets started on his physical therapy as soon as possible. Matt has been denied short term disability due to lack of opting in for certain benefits during a two week window last year. His job is being held for him, as he’s been a valuable asset to his employer for the last few years. We have no savings and he has no income coming in. I’m doing my best to support the house bills and kids on my income, but I absolutely cannot cover any of the medical expenses as well as Matt’s car payment and other necessary bills along those lines. Matt inquired with his bank about a possible deferment with his car loan payments and was denied.
