Tim Hamper has been the head sound engineer at Koko for the past 12 years & is my dear friend, colleague & mentor.  Most folks on the touring circuit know the gentle dude with the ginger beard & cap…  Last year, on 30th November, Tim walked down a pitch-black emergency exit hallway and fell through a trap door that had been left open. It took Emergency Services two hours to extract him from behind the goods elevator platform in the basement – he’s lucky to be alive.

He was taken to St Mary’s trauma center, and diagnosed w/ a shattered hip & fractured spine.  Surgeons decided to try to save the hip, even though they didn’t have a lot of faith in the outcome, because Tim is too young to have a hip replacement.  Basically, they buzzed three screws through Weetabix, hoping it would decide to become bone again.  After 6 months & a lot of pain, they admitted defeat, & Tim is now waiting for a full hip replacement.

After months of physical therapy, Tim can walk with the use of a cane, but he can’t stand for long periods of time, run up and down stairs, or lift anything heavier than a pint of milk. Tim’s partner is disabled and unable to work – Tim’s earnings were the only real source of income.  This time off has plunged Tim into real financial hardship.  Families help as much as they can, and yes, there will be a payout at some point, but that is years down the road.  Tim received a modest interim payment for devices that he needs, like an orthopedic mattress or treatment from a podiatrist & more physical therapy, but his financial situation means that this money is spent on rent & food while he still sleeps in pain on the sofa.

We miss him & want him back at Koko, but one drunk punter knocks into him & he’s in the back of an ambulance again.  His hip is collapsing, and one leg is 3 inches shorter than the other, and his back is still very fragile.  Our goal is to give him some financial relief during his recovery.  This is one of those times when we realize how precarious our security is – this could happen to any of us.  Tim is the kind of guy who would always go out of his way to help someone have their best show.  Let’s do the same for him.