Last weekend, a gay Bay Area sports fan was the victim of a senseless drive-by shooting and his friends have set up a Gofundme to help as he starts the long road to recovery.
On Saturday evening, West Oakland native Marco Chavez-López was getting ready for dinner for his husband Jimmie and their two daughters when bullets ripped through his home and car.
According to Jimmie Chavez-López, the Oakland Police Department reported that two guns were fired during the drive-by and that 12 casings were recovered in front of the Chavez-López home.
Chavez-López was struck in the face with a bullet while holding his 5-week-old baby. While his children and husband were unharmed, Chavez-López had to be rushed to the hospital.
During his hospitalization, friends have established a Gofundme for the Chavez-López family as he battles back from this traumatic attack. You can contribute by clicking this link.
A passionate baseball enthusiast, Chavez-Lopez is a member of the Gay San Francisco Giants Facebook Group.
So far he has completed two surgeries to install a plate in his jaw and wire it shut. For the next four to six weeks, Chavez-López will be taking his meals through a tube inserted through his nose before undergoing an unspecified number of future surgeries.
Thankfully, both surgeries so far have been successful and Chavez-López is currently in stable condition and maintaining a positive outlook. While his husband Jimmie has visited him in the hospital every day, his daughters have been unable to visit due to COVID-19 restrictions.
Because the trauma and surgeries have altered Chavez-López’s appearance, his daughters have been unable to video chat with him as he and his husband are concerned about their 4-year-old’s response.
“We haven’t grasped how to explain—or even what to explain—to her about the events of that night,” Jimmie said. “She knows daddy is OK, has an ‘ouchie,’ and is in the hospital with doctors who are doing a great job. Marco has sent the girls notes that I read them at night.”
In addition to medical bills, the Gofundme will also help pay for expenses as Jimmie searches for a new home for the family, car rental bills, and daycare for their daughters.
After friends informed him of the Gofundme, Jimmie was moved.
“I haven’t been able to get myself to look at it,” Jimmie said. “I have been getting periodic updates and am in awe of our community—those who know us and love us, and those who don’t know us and want to help in some way.
“I have no words to express the level of gratitude, warmth, and love we have felt as we move through this. I can only give our most heartfelt and honest thank you to everyone who has called, sent messages, and donated for keeping us in their thoughts.”
Jimmie also wished to convey that he is reading personal messages and e-mails but has not been able to respond due to the emotional trauma of the past few days.
All of us at Outsports send our sincerest best wishes to Marco Chavez-López and his family for a full recovery. To contribute to the Gofundme, you can follow this link.
