Help Doug West Recover and Paint Again

My dad survived a terrible accident, and he needs help with medical bills. For years, my father has painted New Mexico landscapes that have brought many people joy. On Thanksgiving, he was home alone in Todos Santos, Mexico, recovering from a cold. He went to relight his water heater so he could take a warm shower, and it exploded. He suffered severe burns across much of his body, including his hands. His friends immediately took him to an ICU, where doctors stabilized him and got him ready to be airlifted to a burn unit in the States.

Without immediate care, he would have died. However, Mexican hospitals don’t take Medicare, and Medicare doesn’t pay for airlifting. The Mexican ICU bills are more than $150,000, and the airlifting was $28,000. His basic supplemental insurance will only cover $50,000 of those bills. We also know he will owe more for the extensive life-saving care and physical therapy he’s receiving now under insurance.

As an artist, my dad has been self-employed for four decades. Anyone who knows him will tell you that he is such a hard worker and a fighter. His friends and I are raising money to help him pay the remaining medical bills so that he doesn’t have to sell his house where he paints. We want him to be able to just focus on his healing and physical therapy, so he can get back to the art he loves.

Thank you to everyone for all your kindness and support of my father while he heals.