Tuesday 13 November 2012

Unhinged: A Festival for Eku's Head


About Unhinged

There is this great person named Eku Zhong. She is funny, talented, kind, and also quite ill. Not ill as in awesome, ill as in sick. Not sick as in super cool (well she is that too) but sick as in very, very ill.

You may or may not be aware of that- up until a few months ago, I wasn’t. I was clueless. I had no idea because Eku doesn’t make a big deal of it. Day in and day out, I would complain about my little problems and she would listen patiently and advise wisely.

Her presence as a friend is a blessing. She brings fun and light wherever she goes- and she does so in the face of incredible challenges. Her ability to stay positive no matter what is an enormous inspiration.

Her struggles started with MS. Then they found thyroid cancer, and through poor treatment it turned into bone cancer. Over the last seven years, literally countless surgeries, radiation therapies, bone replacements and marrow transplants later, the stress of repeated surgeries has left her skull fragile and yet more surgery is needed.

The area where her zygotic arch meets the temporal bone is severely compromised.

Literally there is a risk that her zygotic arch could lift off the temporal arch and push the temporal bone into her brain. Actions as simple as chewing hard food or yawning the wrong way could cause this.

There is hope. Another surgery could correct this issue, but it requires the purchase of a prosthesis to replace the damaged bone. This is where myself and a group of people who love her dearly come in, and you as well should you choose to help out.

From November 15th through December 15th, we will be running a festival in SL- a festival to celebrate Eku’s titanium spirit. The event is called Unhinged. It will be a great big gacha fair with a skull theme, lots of DJs and super fun party time, in honor of this spirited and sweet person who is such an inspiration.

75% of the proceeds from gacha plays will go to the Eku’s New Bone fund, to help offset the substantial out of pocket cost for this prosthetic. We have a great group of vendors and entertainers lined up, but there is room for lots more, and every contribution helps!

If you are interested in helping out, leave a comment with your avatar name and what you would like to contribute, and I will be in touch with you inworld. There will also be opportunities for sponsorship of the event- I will update this blog with all that information over the next few days, so please do check back with us.

If you prefer to do a non-sl donation, our indiegogo page is here.