Animators stage online auction to benefit comatose son of fellow animator

[Lorien]

Animators from around Los Angeles and around the world have banded together to help pay the medical bills of one of their own.

When Matthew, the son of animator Tim Hodge, was involved in a car wreck this summer, his family says their insurance company denied coverage, so now they face huge medical bills as Matthew lies in a coma.

The "Help the Hodges" auction features items donated by more than a hundred animators and includes some very rare drawings from the private vaults of collectors, from Stan Lee's "Spiderman" art to pieces by some of Disney's "Nine Old Men."

KPCC's John Rabe talked with "Mulan" director Tony Bancroft, who helped organize the fundraiser.

http://scpr.org/news/2010/01/22/jrnews-hodge-auction/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+893KpccSouthernCaliforniaNews+(KPCC:+News

http://www.helpthehodges.com/

Personal note; these are all friends of mine. I knew Matthew when he was a baby. So please tell any friends that you know who collect comic book or animation art about this auction!

[Lorien]

1. Here's a link to the current items being auctioned. More will be put up in the

coming weeks!

http://shop.ebay.com/ncsfoundation/m.html?_dmd=1&_ipg=50&_sop=12&_rdc=1

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_pkGNPJrwYd0/Sy0cjK-yG4I/AAAAAAAAAXE/L8wJpg99czo/s1600-h/Peanuts+Art.jpg

[Beaverhausen]

2. I heard this story on NPR the other night

Do you know why his insurance company denied coverage?

[Lorien]

4. I have no idea why. Matthew's car was hit by a train in a freak accident

you know insurance companies; they'll look for any loophole possible to get out of their end of the bargain. I'll ask Tim, though.

[Lorien]

10. OK, I just got a reply from Matt's dad Tim:

"In our case, we were just under insured with a short term policy. The policy stated that in the event of a catastrophic sickness or injury, we would be covered until we left the hospital.. even if hospitalization lasted longer than the policy end date. So Matt was 80% covered for the first 5 or 6 weeks (even though the policy expired before that) . Then he was discharged to a skilled nursing facility. The coverage stopped. Then when he had to go back to Vandy 2 days later, he wasn't covered at all for the subsequent treatments and surgeries.
It was weird, they covered the surgery to remove part of Matt's skull, but not the procedure to put it back 3 months later."

:-(

Universal single payer NOW! Families have enough stress in such situations, they don't need all of the financial burden on top of it!

[Norrin Radd]

3. kr worthy cause.

I covet that Frosty by Paul Coker, Jr., but I'm certain it'll go for way out of my league.

[Lorien]

5. You might throw in a low bid anyway, because you never know! nt

[gatorboy]

6. The only people I Twitter with are comic book artists and animators. I'll give them a heads up.

I'll also post it on my Deviant Art page and pass it around.

[Lorien]

8. Thanks Gatorboy!

:hi:

[abelenkpe]

7. O!

I'll pass this on to all the animators at work. I hope his son recovers fully. :hug:

[Lorien]

9. Thanks abelenkpe!

:hi:

[Binka]

11. Kick

:kick:

[Maru Kitteh]

12. One thing he has going for him: It was external trauma vs. anoxia so that gives him a better shot

at recovery. How heartbreaking.

I hope young Matthew is the exceptional case his parents pray for.

It shouldn't be like this.

[omega minimo]

13. Error: you can only recommend threads which were started in the past 24 hours

Best wishes for all concerned, Lorien.