Chess Friends ... for Andre

Chess Community,

Over the years, Andre Harding has been there for our kids. Good games, bad games, really good or bad games — Andre has been encouraging and guiding our kids to think strategically, build resilience and learn to love competition.

Now, it's our turn to be there for Andre.

Last week Tuesday, Oct. 3, Andre went to the hospital with a badly infected wound in his right foot. The surgeon ended up performing a transmetatarsal amputation, which means that Andre lost his toes and the front part of his foot. He is still in the ICU, and will have a second surgery, hopefully just to close the foot (and not to remove more infected bone or tissue). After that, he will need rehab and physical therapy.

Unfortunately, Andre does not have health insurance. Being a dedicated chess teacher does not often come with medical benefits.

Which is why we started this GoFundMe fundraiser for Andre. Just the hospital is $3K per day, while the surgeries will add tens of thousands of dollars more to the bill. Meanwhile, being a member of the gig economy, Andre isn't paid when he's not working.

Please contribute as generously as you can — to help relieve some of the mental stress Andre must be feeling (on top of the trauma of losing part of one's body) and so that he can focus on getting better and making his comeback.

Oct. 12 Update: Good news! Tuesday night, Andre had the second surgery to close his foot, and yesterday, he was moved out of ICU onto a regular floor. He’s now getting physical therapy daily to learn to use crutches. His doctors say he’s making good progress.

Nov. 7 Update: Great news! Andre's doctor thinks he can go home early next week (yep, he's been in the hospital all this time because of the IV for the antibiotics). Plus, Andre will be mobile with just a boot (no crutches, no cane, no nada)!