Captian Crunch needs our help

[Lestan Gregor]

I've been talking to John Draper on Facebook and he is in serious pain due to his spinal cord having "Spurs" in them. I've found some information pertaining to "Endoscopic Discetomy" which is a lightly invasive procedure. He will lose all ability to move if he doesn't get help. The least we can do is help the man who started it all  if you can find any doctors, hospitals, etc that have done this type of surgery please leave it in this thread for me to forward or contact him on facebook.

Ive already found a doctor in Beverly Hills but the more information the better

Thank You Guys

[ApprenticePhreak]

So what we're looking for is a collective of information, then? Not a collective of cash/money? Because cash/money/bling doesn't exist with me. But with google, I can know who killed my parents, in what room, and with what weapon. If any weapon was used. I'm not saying that it was or anything and it surely isn't smelted down to a new belt buckle for me. No sir. Just saying google has an eye on everything you do.

Also I assume we're looking for hospitals country wide? Or is there a certain area we should be looking in?

[Lestan Gregor]

California preferably. He needs the surgery before he shoots a pilot for the history channel. If he doesn't get treated than he will be paralyzed.  He is using speech to text software to post online because he cant use his hands.

[BaconStrips]

what a great person you are for wanting to help him. One thing is though, I'm sure he is considered disabled which would more than likely mean he is on medicare/medicaid or something like that. This also means that his insc. company would provide him with all the doctors who could do that surgery. I know CA is broke, I think thats where you said to look for docs.. but even still, governrment health care will send him to a qualified doctor for the procedure.

[Lestan Gregor]

He is. That's why I'm trying to help him find a doctor that takes it. I cant find anyone that specifically states that they accept medicaid/medicare. He can hardly type because of the pain in his hands so I'm just trying to find stuff for him.

[BaconStrips]

As far as I know, all you need to do is call his insc. company and they will provide you with a list of names of doctors they are contractd with who can do the job.

[ApprenticePhreak]

Bacon's actually 100% right. Sure, there may be a few doctors who don't show up on the list, but a good deal of them will be. Seeing as he already has coverage and if you go that route it'll save a whole heap of time and trouble, not to mention give you results that tend to be super accurate and up to date.

[MIB]

Somewhere online is an article about his phone phreaking discovery, I believe it was the interview he gave to Esquire magazine. If I remember correctly from reading the story, he did a tour of duty in Vietnam. He discovered the 2600hz whistle trick after he came home. Since he was in the military, can he get his surgery at a VA hospital? I believe they provide medical services to vets at no cost.

He might want to check into that possibility if he has trouble finding a civilian hospital and surgeon that takes Medicare/Medicaid.

MIB

[ApprenticePhreak]

That's something else I'd forgotten about him. But from what I understand to get treatment from VA it takes a miracle and a super long time to get the attention you need. What with them being under constant duress of people with missing limbs wanting attention and all.

But it's still another resource at hand and you could get lucky with them as well. And as far as VA is covered I think you can just call a clinic of theirs and find out what's available and when for a check up.

But what needs to happen is that he needs to of been honorably discharged or else they won't give him the service. He wasn't a draft dodger, right?

[MIB]

Not a draft dodger. Quite the opposite. Here's an excerpt from his Wikipedia page.

Draper himself entered the Air Force in 1964, and while stationed in Alaska  helped his fellow servicemen make free phone calls home by devising access to a local telephone switchboard. He was honorably discharged from the Air Force in 1968 and did military-related work for several employers in the San Francisco Bay Area.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Draper


Edit: Department of Veteran Affairs has a listing of various types of VA facilities in California.

MIB

[MIB]

Hey Lestan what is the status of John Draper? Was he able to find a surgeon for his spinal problems yet?

MIB

[Lestan Gregor]

No. He contacted his insurance company and they told him that the procedure is not covered. He also called several local doctors and was told the same. 250k for the operation.

[I-baLL]

http://web.textfiles.com/ezines/POR/porissue3.txt

To quote John Draper from the special featurette on the Sneakers dvd:

"Captain Crunch" came from a whistle in the Captain Crunch cereal box
which was figured out by this guy named "Sid" in Los Angeles. Sid was
a person who discovered the whistle and he discovered that the whistle
was capable of emitting a tone that is used by the phone company to
disconnect long distance calls.

[RTF]

Draper appears to be soliciting donations, via http://savingcaptaincrunch.com, to pay for surgery.  That site also has more info on the medical circumstances and such.

So far as I can tell by clicking around it seems legit.  It is linked to by @jdcrunchman on Twitter, which is his true Twitter according to http://crunchcreations.com.

[Lestan Gregor]

I really feel bad for him and I do hope he gets the money for the surgery. He is too bizarre though. He wanted me to come live with him in California after the first phone conversation. He's been hounding me for two months about it. 0_o