Jeffrey Shaun King lifted up prayer hands in a recent Instagram post where he reached out to over 3 million instagram followers for some financial help.
Doctors have diagnosed King with occipital neuralgia, and the writer and activist is in need of assistance paying for the medical procedures that he said won’t be covered by his health insurance. King shared his message with an accompany a slideshow of photos of himself in the hospital.
“On most days I’m asking for help for someone else, but today I’m asking for some help for myself,”
King captioned. ”As you can see, I’ve been in the hospital a lot – trying anything I can to relieve the excruciating pain I’m experiencing after a lifetime of spinal injuries.”According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, occipital neuralgia is a rare neurological condition involving the occipital nerves where one experiences shocking or aching pains that start from the base of the head and lead up to the scalp on either sides of the head. King told his followers the condition is “actually the worst pain I’ve experienced in my adult life. It’s so extreme that my own doctor and others that have experienced this warned me of suicidal ideation that often accompanies it. It’s that bad.”
King shared that he feels discomfort if he moves his head in any direction, talks, chews or even blinks his eyes. King admitted he can’t cover the medical bills on his own, but he is in dire need to be healed from his condition.
”Would you please consider chipping in to help my family cover the costs of this next round
of procedures and the expenses of me being off of work and unable to help much at all otherwise?” King asked his followers before thanking them in advance for their financial support.
“It was very hard for me to do this, but I know that you all would hate knowing I couldn’t afford the medical care and didn’t ask for your help,” King concluded, adding that any amount helps.
According to Newsone, King was previously criticized for allegedly scamming supporters through previous online donations. Civil rights attorney and King’s longtime friend Lee Merritt confirmed his suffering on Twitter May 24.
While Merritt has shown signs of support, others express different concerns. With a controversial history of soliciting funds for various campaigns and projects, former lawyer and creator of the hashtag #OscarsSoWhiteothers April Reign took to Twitter and provided a rundown of King’s seemingly sketchy practices in soliciting donations for various causes.
Although King confirmed his diagnosis is occipital neuralgia and requires medical procedures, the recommended treatment plan and associated costs are unclear for his nerve condition. BLACK ENTERPRISE will continue to monitor the latest developments in this story.