Hornyak went to the ER last week. He went from normal to making a new home in a cancer ward in under 24 hours, from having a sore throat to being diagnosed with leukemia, from being an active fan in Denver's music scene to newly elected mayor (and minimum five week resident) of the Colorado Blood Cancer Institute wing of a hospital.
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Besides being a fixture at local shows, Hornyak he helped organize Phibstock (a now defunct mountain music festival).
Now, he's traded standing in the crowd at venues and commenting on various Phish message boards for blood tests and chemo and all the misery that comes with having cancer. It's a shitty situation any way you look at it, but there is a way to help.
Childhood friend Kathryn Kallet was one of the first people Hornyak told about his diagnosis. She set up a crowd-funding page on Youcaring.com.
"Jason is a pretty popular guy and he has a lot of friends and a lot of people that want to help," Kallet says. "This is a way to help him and alleviate his anxieties and start building a little community around him."
Hornyak is one of the lucky few with insurance, but cancer will pretty much ruin anyone's finances. While the crowd funding has made him uncomfortable, Kallet sees it as Denver and his friends around the country trying to keep his spirits up.
"It's been great," she says. "It's been so encouraging for him to see how many people have rallied around him."
Other ways to help Hornyak include: going to a show in his honor, having general fun around Denver, listening to some Phish, and reading his somehow-delightful-despite-being-about-cancer blog.
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