Harlen's Medical Recovery Fund
Donation protected
On November 4th, our friend Jess Harlen was hit by a car, walking across the street on her way to the grocery store. The SUV hit her unprotected body at 40mph/60.3kph and from the ambulance records, she flew over the vehicle and landed 20 feet from point of impact, landing on her head first. With immediate loss of consciousness, Jess has no recollection of the accident occurring and woke up in hospital in shock, with 4 fractured vertebrae, a head injury, traumatic brain injury - serious concussion, damaged neck ligaments, a torn ACL & MCL in her left knee with an impaction fracture, and abrasions all over her body and face. Her last memory was putting money in the meter.
Her doctors have a forecasted recovery period of a minimum of 8 months, from Nov 4th, 2019 to June 2020, during which time she is unable to work/drive/perform daily tasks, and also requires additional treatment not covered by her insurance.
As many of you know, Jess is an accomplished full-time musician. Musicians are self-employed and their physical self needs to be present to be able to make a living. This means, if she can't work, she can't get paid.
Thankfully her direct emergency medical costs were covered by her insurance, and she received a medical grant of $2500 from MusicCares. However, this isn't enough to cover the cost of the uninsured therapies required for her to make a full recovery. This also does not cover her living expenses for being out of work for a minimum of 8 months. This is why we are putting together this campaign so that she has access to everything she needs to support herself and make a full recovery without going into debt, and begin performing again.
More about treatment:
The uninsured recommended treatments include prolotherapy, osteopathy, physical therapy, myotherapy, vestibular and visual therapy, and frequent sensory deprivation. This will help her recover from her concussion symptoms of dizziness, migraines, loss of balance, difficulty completing mental tasks, memory problems, nausea, blurred vision, sensitivity to light and noise, anxiety, depression, and ability to communicate clearly.
The therapies will also help her more physical symptoms of painful instability in her neck, inability to bend her left knee without extreme pain, spasms around her spine, walk unassisted without braces or devices, and ultimately be able to perform again. We would like for her to travel to Australia to have the knee surgery required, where she has family able to be a support network to help her throughout the post-op recovery. In order to travel to Australia comfortably we hope to purchase a business class flight where she can have enough room for her full leg brace and the attention she needs throughout the long haul.
More about Jess:
Jess Harlen has had the privilege to connect with music fans across the globe through her phenomenal capacity as a vocalist, guitarist, song writer, and solo recording artist with two full length albums Neon Heartache and Park Yark Slang. Born in New Zealand, Jess grew up in Australia and has been living in LA for the last 5yrs on an artist visa. You may have seen her recently playing guitar for Ruel in NYC or LA, the Musical Director and guitarist for Lily Meola, or over the last decade somewhere in the US, Europe, Hawaii, Aus, Asia, Canada as a vocalist in Blue King Brown and one half of Cocoa Jackson Lane. Her vocals have featured on performances with Neil Finn, Che Fu, Tiki Taane, Muph & Plutonic, Zillanova, Kid Radio, and Mr Grevis. Dubbed “an artist to watch” by Rolling Stone, she is considered to have made "an exceptional contribution to Australia's musical identity" -Time Off. A celebrated song writer, her songs have been synced on a plethora of tv episodes including Hand of God, Jersey Girl, Chicago Fire, Bondi Rescue, Packed to the Rafters, Time of Our Lives, Shortland Street, and the list goes on.
More about the campaign:
We are aiming to raise $50k so she can have everything she needs to attempt a full recovery and return to the stage! We appreciate any help that you can give to her, small donations are met with immense gratitude. Whether or not you’re able to make a donation, please consider sharing this fundraiser outward and within your community and other fans of music who may be familiar with Jess’s contribution to the arts. We’d love for you to share with us a story below on how you got to know and love Jess and her music, or where you saw her perform!
Thank you!
Here are some pics ofJess performing with Ruel the night before the accident. November 3rd, Fonda Theater, Los Angeles.
Photography Michelle G Hunder.
Jess with Lily Meola, Hawaii.
Jess Harlen, Willie K, Neil Finn, Mick Fleetwood
'Don't Dream It's Over'
Jess with Steven Tyler, Willie Nelson, Jack Johnson, during March For Our Lives Concert Finale.
Her doctors have a forecasted recovery period of a minimum of 8 months, from Nov 4th, 2019 to June 2020, during which time she is unable to work/drive/perform daily tasks, and also requires additional treatment not covered by her insurance.
As many of you know, Jess is an accomplished full-time musician. Musicians are self-employed and their physical self needs to be present to be able to make a living. This means, if she can't work, she can't get paid.
Thankfully her direct emergency medical costs were covered by her insurance, and she received a medical grant of $2500 from MusicCares. However, this isn't enough to cover the cost of the uninsured therapies required for her to make a full recovery. This also does not cover her living expenses for being out of work for a minimum of 8 months. This is why we are putting together this campaign so that she has access to everything she needs to support herself and make a full recovery without going into debt, and begin performing again.
More about treatment:
The uninsured recommended treatments include prolotherapy, osteopathy, physical therapy, myotherapy, vestibular and visual therapy, and frequent sensory deprivation. This will help her recover from her concussion symptoms of dizziness, migraines, loss of balance, difficulty completing mental tasks, memory problems, nausea, blurred vision, sensitivity to light and noise, anxiety, depression, and ability to communicate clearly.
The therapies will also help her more physical symptoms of painful instability in her neck, inability to bend her left knee without extreme pain, spasms around her spine, walk unassisted without braces or devices, and ultimately be able to perform again. We would like for her to travel to Australia to have the knee surgery required, where she has family able to be a support network to help her throughout the post-op recovery. In order to travel to Australia comfortably we hope to purchase a business class flight where she can have enough room for her full leg brace and the attention she needs throughout the long haul.
More about Jess:
Jess Harlen has had the privilege to connect with music fans across the globe through her phenomenal capacity as a vocalist, guitarist, song writer, and solo recording artist with two full length albums Neon Heartache and Park Yark Slang. Born in New Zealand, Jess grew up in Australia and has been living in LA for the last 5yrs on an artist visa. You may have seen her recently playing guitar for Ruel in NYC or LA, the Musical Director and guitarist for Lily Meola, or over the last decade somewhere in the US, Europe, Hawaii, Aus, Asia, Canada as a vocalist in Blue King Brown and one half of Cocoa Jackson Lane. Her vocals have featured on performances with Neil Finn, Che Fu, Tiki Taane, Muph & Plutonic, Zillanova, Kid Radio, and Mr Grevis. Dubbed “an artist to watch” by Rolling Stone, she is considered to have made "an exceptional contribution to Australia's musical identity" -Time Off. A celebrated song writer, her songs have been synced on a plethora of tv episodes including Hand of God, Jersey Girl, Chicago Fire, Bondi Rescue, Packed to the Rafters, Time of Our Lives, Shortland Street, and the list goes on.
More about the campaign:
We are aiming to raise $50k so she can have everything she needs to attempt a full recovery and return to the stage! We appreciate any help that you can give to her, small donations are met with immense gratitude. Whether or not you’re able to make a donation, please consider sharing this fundraiser outward and within your community and other fans of music who may be familiar with Jess’s contribution to the arts. We’d love for you to share with us a story below on how you got to know and love Jess and her music, or where you saw her perform!
Thank you!
Here are some pics ofJess performing with Ruel the night before the accident. November 3rd, Fonda Theater, Los Angeles.
Photography Michelle G Hunder.Jess with Lily Meola, Hawaii.
Jess Harlen, Willie K, Neil Finn, Mick Fleetwood
'Don't Dream It's Over'
Jess with Steven Tyler, Willie Nelson, Jack Johnson, during March For Our Lives Concert Finale.
Organizer and beneficiary
Josh White
Organizer
Los Angeles, CA
Jessica Ferguson
Beneficiary