Word has been buzzing around the Internet that popular Pagan musician SJ Tucker (aka Sooj, aka “skinny white chick”) has been hospitalized with what appears to be appendicitis. Like many independent musicians and artists, she doesn’t have any health insurance and is facing a massive medical bill of $25,000 dollars or more. Friends, fans, and loved ones are now rallying to raise money through donations, charity auctions, and special sales of Tucker’s work.

SJ Tucker

I know that some of you have already heard about SJ’s recent emergency and hospital stay. It looks likely that it may actually be appendicitis, although the doctors want to confirm this with another CT scan before they do any surgery. We -do- know that the hospital bills are going to be significant, since this first trip to the hospital involved two emergency rooms, four doctors, a 45 minute ambulance transfer between the two hospitals, a CT scan AND an X-ray, multiple IV antibiotics, nearly daily bloodwork tests, and five and a half nights in the hospital … Please help us raise money to pay for these medical bills. Buy CDs. Spread the word. Share links and diggs and do all that interweb magic. What we need is 1000 people with $25. Do you have $25? Do you know someone who does? If you can’t give us money, please tell people who might.

I think it is safe to say that some of the things close to my heart  are Pagan music, and the awful state of health care in America. Living in fear of getting sick or having an accident is stressful, and when it happens, devastating. While we wait for our politicians to reform medicine in America, we have to do our best to take care of our own. I know for a fact that I have way more than a thousand readers, and while many of us have been hard-hit by the recent economic troubles, surely a percentage of us can spare a few bucks? Let’s unleash The Wild Hunt here, and help out in this effort. Make a donation, or purchase a CD (I bought a digital download of her album “Blessings”), and when you do, tell them you came from here.

ADDENDUM: Over $14,000 dollars was raised in the first week! Congratualations to SJ Tucker’s supporters on this amazing start, and thanks to all my readers who went out of their way to give to this cause, you helped make this happen.

Tags: A Darker Shade of Pagan, fundraising, health care, music, SJ Tucker