Helping a Heart of Gold—Tyler Stafford Medical Expense Fund

Attention friends and family,

An incredibly dear member of our community and his family need our help. On January 21st on the flight back to Reno after a songwriting retreat at Fame Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, Tyler Stafford suffered a heart attack. By the grace of God, the heart attack hit just as his connecting flight to LAX was beginning its descent to the airport. An ambulance was alerted in advance and he was rushed to Centinela Hospital in Inglewood, CA immediately upon landing.

At the hospital, Tyler underwent emergency surgery during which doctors removed 8 blood clots from two fully clogged arteries, one located in the widowmaker. A TEE test revealed a hole in his heart between the top two ventricles and a large additional clot at the bottom of his heart. The severity of Tyler’s condition left the doctors baffled, given his young age (not quite 39) and otherwise healthy heart and physical condition. He remained under care at Centinela for the next five days before being released and making the trip back home to Reno.

After a week of rest, recovery, and adjusting to a plethora of life-saving medications, Tyler endured a TIA (mini stroke) and was admitted to Renown in Reno for additional treatment and testing. An MRI was conducted to examine his brain and a tumor was discovered behind his right eye. As if this all wasn’t enough, a few weeks later he slipped on a stair at home, hit his head and found himself in the hospital yet again. Thankfully, this latest incident didn’t cause brain bleeding (a serious risk associated with the blood thinners he’s currently on to treat the clots) but provided another major scare for Tyler and his family.

Ever since the initial heart attack, he has undergone extensive testing in hopes of finding some answers regarding his condition and a future prognosis. Needless to say, these events have rendered him far less able to work and have burdened his family with substantial and continually-mounting medical bills. In the face of this unimaginable adversity, Tyler and Ashley have remained graceful and optimistic. Nevertheless, they need our help.

For those of you who haven’t had the good fortune of knowing Tyler (yet), allow me to briefly paint a picture of this one-of-a-kind character:

I met Tyler in 2008 at an open mic night at Maytan Music Center when we were both getting started in the music industry. He was my first friend in Reno outside of the skiing/UNR world and as soon as we both discovered our shared insatiable obsession with music and songwriting, we quickly became soul brothers. All who know him well would agree that Tyler is the quintessential friend; the kind you see portrayed in the movies that we all hope to find, but few are ever lucky enough to. He is endlessly kind, generous, and a beacon of light who makes our community and world a far better place. He also happens to be an incredible singer-songwriter with the voice of an angel who plays an integral part in the Reno music scene. He’s the guy everyone’s always excited to see out and about around town.

I’ve been supremely lucky to have had Tyler as a rock during some of the most challenging and disorienting times in my life, just as I’ve seen him show up for countless others in their times of need. He is an incredibly devoted husband to his amazing wife Ashley and a model father to his two young sons, Montee and June. He’s the brother we all want to have and to be, and the son every parent wishes for. Whenever someone in the community needs a helping hand or just a sincere, present soul to lend an ear, Tyler is there. He’s the guy everyone wants on their team. He is the man, full stop.

Please join us in showing our support for this extraordinary man and his family by donating generously and sharing this Gofundme campaign far and wide. 100% of the funds raised here as well as from the show at Cypress on April 25th will go to Tyler and Ashley to offset medical bills and provide some much needed support during this extremely challenging time. Let’s show up for them, just as they’ve shown up for us time and again.

Much love and gratitude,

Eric, friends and family of Tyler Stafford

P.S. We hope to see you at Cypress on Thursday April 25th! Tickets can be purchased at the link below: https://www.simpletix.com/e/when-it-rains-a-fundraiser-for-tyler-staff-tickets-166273