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Saving Richard Min: A very ill South Korean ecosystem major player needs YOUR support

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The Korean serial entrepreneur has suffered a devastating stroke and needs your help to foot his medical bills

Richard Min, an influential serial entrepreneur in the South Korea ecosystem has suffered a major stroke and needs your help to foot his medical bills. Close friends of Min and his family have set up a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo’s Generosity platform (crowdfunding for charitable and social causes) to raise the much-needed funds, which amounts to US$250,000.

Here’s an excerpt from the page’s description:

“On June 25, 2016 our friend Richard had a serious stroke, which has left him paralyzed on the right side of his body and unable to speak. We are reaching out to his friends and the tech community for help. Please read on.

Richard has helped many a foreigner navigate Korea and connect people from around the world to media, technology and to his passion startups. He had a vision of Korea and was really ahead of his time in identifying the opportunities that are just now coming to reality.

In March of 2016, Richard’s mother’s was diagnosed with late stage pancreatic cancer. In April 2016, Richard married his then girlfriend Hana in a very simple civil ceremony. They pushed the marriage forward to give his mother peace of mind that he would not be alone. At her bedside, when she was too exhausted to eat and too tired to fight, Richard told her she needed to stay around a little longer so that his children could meet her. Richard was the voice and the hand of hope that his mother held to fight her cancer.

On June 25, 2016, Hana noticed that Richard was not himself. She observed his face was off balance and the right side was hanging limp. When she asked if he was ok, he could only mumble. She asked him to say his own name, smile, and raise his arms. When he failed to be able to do these things she immediately knew he had a stroke. Hana saved his life that night.

For three days Richard remained unconscious while they drained the blood from his skull. On the day he regained consciousness his mother passed away.

As of today, because of his condition, his family has decided it would be too much for him to bear and have not told him yet about his mother’s passing.

The prognosis is that Richard is progressing well, however he has a long road to recovery. The Richard we all know is an articulate, energetic active man. The stroke has robbed Richard of his ability to talk and move half his body. The spirit of the person we know and love is still there.

The reality is that he may never speak and move the way he used to. The doctors have estimated that he needs 1-2 years of physical therapy and speech therapy.

Richard needs our help. He has medical bills piling up and will not be returning to work for a long time. Everyone who has ever passed through Korea has been touched by Richard and benefited from his friendship and hospitality. He has been the ambassador for Korea and technology for more than 10 years.

Richard needs us now. He needs your prayers and good wishes. But he also needs our financial support to free him of his financial burdens and stress so he can focus on his health.”

Min has spent more than 20 years helping to build Korea’s tech ecosystem. He started out by managing Google’s Korea operations, then moved on to found +822, a global event to bring together tech, music, fashion, and film under one roof, at one time in Asia.

He is also the Managing Director of the Fashion Technology Accelerator, Seoul, and Co-founder of Korea’s two leading startup hub and accelerator, Seoul Space and Kstartup.

Throughout his career, Min has been an active tech evangelist, speaking at tech forums and conferences and have been covered by global media channels such as Bloomberg, CNBC and ABC news. He has also worked with Korea’s leading conglomerates, academia, and government ministries to build and run startup programmes, events and agency services.

Image Credit: generosity

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