Zach is one of the most amazing people I have been fortunate enough to meet. We met approximately a year and a half ago on a Dave Matthews Band fan club message board known as the Warehouse. I know it seems lame to meet people through it, but as in previous posts, they are some of my closest friends and because of them I have some of the greatest memories of my life. Zach is one of those people. We officially met in July 2009, when he, along with many other people who I knew, and had yet to meet, came up to Wisconsin for the DMB shows @ Alpine Valley Music Theatre. We all went downtown Milwaukee the night before the first show. Before I could even get a word out Zach was there giving me the biggest hug (I showed up around midnight). We stayed for a few hours until bar close and in those few hours, I already knew just how awesome Zach truly was. He was either sitting at a table telling awesome stories, drinking Appletinis w/ his pinky up with Matt, or dancing for a group of people doing some of his favorite dance moves. Little did I know he'd become one of my closest friends.
Fast forward a year or so and we're in the next DMB summer tour season. Zach is part of the reason I went to half of the shows I did. Because it would give me a chance to see him. By this time Zach had become very close. Many inside jokes, constant txting, phone calls at 3-4 am just for the hell of it. I ventured down to Indy for the n2 show at Deer Creek, aka Best.Seat.Buddies.Ever night (see DMB Part 2 post). I waited a few weeks for Alpine Valley and of course Zach was there. We all spent the weekend camping in Ang's parents backyard and I couldn't ask for a better weekend. I don't know how many times he did the worm, but every time someone asked, he was happy to do it.
No matter who he was talking to they had a smile on their face. Besides Jeff, when he lost the Worm-off, well more like failed miserably. If it weren't for Zach pulling me away that afternoon, I probably would have been beaten up by some Notre Dame football players with whom I was trash talking to (I blame the tequila).
September 2010 rolls around and we're all together once again in Chicago for the DMB shows at Wrigley Field. So many people came in for the weekend and it was going to be memorable, good and bad. The weekend was amazing, great shows, good people, good times. Saturday night/early Sunday morning we were struck with a tragedy. Zach fell from the 8th floor balcony of our hotel to the roof of the hotel's convention center. An accident that we are very lucky to have him still alive. He is currently at Northwestern Memorial Hospital and has a long road ahead of him in his recovery. He has a broken pelvis, 3-4 fractured vertebrae and about 6-8 fractured ribs, with some moderate brain damage that with time will heal. But thankfully there is no serious brain damage or paralysis. Right now we're just waiting for him to fully recovery and get back to his normal self.
What truly amazed me in this situation is the outpouring of love that has come from not only his friends and family, but the entire DMB community. Within 48 hours of the accident there was a PayPal acct set up in his name taking donations from anyone and everyone. Within a few weeks we had a trust fund, Hugs for Zach, set up with nearly $3000 purely from donations. While the money is helpful, what's amazing are the cards and gifts sent to his hospital room. A group of people here in Chicago and across the country thought of the idea to have a few benefits to help raise more money for his trust. Here in Chicago, I helped put together and run this regions benefit. We had raffle prizes, paintings, an incredible musician in Alex Hoffer and even Zach himself on the computer via Skype. In NYC, they had a phenomenal turnout from the DMB community with raffle prizes as well as bunny ears galore (Zach this year at Alpine Valley was given a pait of bunny ears that we could all see in the pit in front of the stage the entire night, we felt it tribute to wear them for him)
Between the 2 benefits 1000 miles apart we were able to raise more than $3000. We may not be professional event planners, but I think that's pretty damn awesome. The outpouring love and support from everyone was the best part. To see his family and friends able to talk to him on the computer and cheering him with their drinks was beyond amazing. The best part of the evening, his mom, Gina. She was given the chance to finally get out and see his friends and share with us the stories about what makes him so amazing. In NYC, Operation Rabbit Rampage and MSG n2 was a success. Nearly a hundred bunny ears were seen throughout the venue and more people became aware of what we were doing and who it was for.
A friend of mine put it best for the past weekend: 2 benefits, 2 different cities, all for one guy...pretty amazing.
It's not done yet. With DMB at their "Last Stop" in Charlottesville, VA we've got a few more benefits and gatherings for Zach that I know will be a huge success. Not many people can impact so many lives, but Zach, he's one of them. I can't wait for him to get better and I can dance with him once again.
For any information about Zach please visit www.hugzforzach.org
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