Chris Mintz, the Army veteran shot seven times while standing up to a mass shooter at Oregon’s Umpqua Community College, is getting some major help with his medical bills.
A GoFundMe campaign his cousin set up in Mintz’s name, designed to help with his medical bills, has already received nearly $800,000 in crowdfunded donations.
“I had no idea. I had no clue,” the cousin who launched the campaign, Derek Bourgeois, told the Daily Dot over the phone. After a CNN producer became the latest of a number of people to suggest he create a site to raise money for medical bills, Bourgeois said, he set the requested amount for $10,000. “She kinda walked me through it,” he said of the producer. “I sent her a link. About 10 minutes later, it’s already on CNN.”
It’s anyone’s guess what Mintz’s final medical tally will be. He has insurance, Bourgeois said, but Mintz faces not only surgery but rehab, as well as the challenges of being a single parent to a child with special needs. The seven shots he suffered left him with wounded hands, torso, and two broken legs.
To that end, the family is asking that well wishers send money to fundraisers for other victims. The page for Mintz contains links to pages 11 other victims—some of whom didn’t survive—and their families. In total, those campaigns have raised approximately $170,000.
Illustration by Max Fleishman
