Hi everyone, we wanted to take a moment to touch base on a situation that happened in Tempe recently, and to share words from John’s family; words of support, and words of thanks and appreciation.
While this post does contain some solicitation, we are exempting it from our normal policy for two reasons:
• John is a member of our community.
• The situation in question happened directly inside of our community space.
We wish him the best in his recovery. To help out, we’re pre-emptively doing a dollar-for-dollar donation match by funding half of the requested campaign up front.
We also want to reassure everyone that while we are incredibly proud of our staff and how this situation was handled to help John, we are still auditing our first aid kits, and evaluating our SOP's, etc. company wide to assess how we can better support our growing community.
Below are the words from John’s family.
Aaron C
Managing Owner & CEO
Message from the Hill Family
On Wednesday, September 3rd, John "gonz0" Hill had a seizure and heart attack while at Gamer's Guild. He was taken by EMS to the hospital and is currently in the ICU. He is stable, and we are hopeful for his recovery.
We are beyond thankful for everyone’s support, and we have been incredibly grateful for the sheer amount of care and compassion shown to him and to us.
That said, this—plus his two other hospital visits in the last month and a half—has put a great deal of strain on our family.
We kindly ask for privacy at this time until John is awake.
Once he is awake, we will ask that other game stores release statements on what hospital he is in, along with visiting details.
Regarding flowers and food: we’ve heard the desire from many of you to send them, but we ask that you wait until John is awake so that he can experience that love himself.
For those who experienced the situation first-hand: please make sure you are taking care of yourself. If you need someone to talk to, this link leads to free mental health services and guidance for finding in-network therapists:
If you would like to assist our family financially during this time, here are two options:
GoFundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/f/8ndpe-help-johns-family-through-his-icu-stay
PayPal: https://www.paypal.me/emerae
Please only donate if you are in the place to do so—do not compromise your own stability for our benefit. These funds will go toward food, transportation, and other family expenses, and are managed by John’s daughters in a dedicated account.
We also want to give our largest thanks to Gamers Guild for allowing us to post this and making an exception to their normal rules. They have gone above and beyond, and we are deeply grateful.
We are excited for everyone to come and visit him once he wakes up—so he knows he is supported, and so he knows he is loved by so many.
Thank you for your time, your energy, and your continued thoughts and prayers.
One last note: John’s birthday is on September 9th. If you would like to prepare birthday cards, please hold onto them until he wakes up.
With love,
Adelle and the Hill Family
