Support for Josh's recovery

Joshua Elliott is 25, and currently living in Atlanta, GA. He moved from his home in Texas to Atlanta in Feb 2020. In the last three years, he has become loved by so many in this community. His humor and laugh are contagious, his love for vinyl and film runs through his veins, and you can always count on catching him in a 70s-inspired outfit. He creates genuine relationships everywhere he goes and has a heart made for adventure. He currently works at The Plaza Theater and Taqueria Del Sol. He has goals of becoming an actor and moving to New York within the next couple of years. He has been attending acting classes and had headshots taken on March 14th.

Monday, March 20th at around 8:00 pm, Josh was riding on his bike from his apartment to his job, at The Plaza Theater. Right when he was about to turn on St. Charles, he was rear-ended by a car on Briarcliff Road in Atlanta, GA. The impact was sudden, pushed the bike out from under him, and he went flying into the road. The driver drove around, stopped to look at him, and drove off. Josh was rushed to Grady where he was placed in the wrong wing, left in the halls sitting upright, and went through an x-ray and CT scan for them to finally realize his tailbone was broken and dislocated, and his t-12 vertebrae was fractured.

There were witnesses at the accident who caught the license plate number - so the driver was arrested later that night. While knowing he was arrested provides psychological ease, there are many repercussions of this incident.

Josh works in the service industry, juggling working at a restaurant and a movie theatre. He works on average 50 hours a week to maintain financial responsibility and living expenses. Due to his injuries, he will now be unable to work at the restaurant for 8-12 weeks at a minimum. He will only be able to work the bare minimum at the theatre due to his mobility.

Along with not being able to make an income, the attorney made it very clear that Josh cannot rely on any form of settlement from this case due to the uncertainty of the driver's insurance policy. Josh won't have any answers on how this case will go until he has completed the required orthopedic appointments and any additional required physical therapy or surgery. There is no clear timeline for any of this.

Josh has rent to pay, and due to his roommate moving out, he was planning to move into a new apartment on May 1. He sold his car on March 5th to take up biking and saving money. He canceled his car insurance plan on March 17th - three days before this incident. Josh also does not have health insurance. He is in a really hard place undergoing major life changes, and having to re-establish his psychological safety.

We are starting this gofundme to support Josh in feeling financially secure as he works toward rebuilding his life. His upcoming financial concerns include the following, but are not limited to:

Rent every month

A security deposit + rent for a new apartment

Movers since he currently lives on the third floor

Gas, food, regular household items

Hospital bills, doctor bills, potential surgery bills

The cost of a lawyer

Should you find yourself able to support this, it will be greatly appreciated. If you are not in a place to provide for others, maybe reach out with a kind message so he knows you're thinking of him. Thank you for your time, we all wish Josh a speedy recovery.