Students will dress up in hospital scrubs and play the board game "Operation" among hospital decorations as part of a fundraising event Ball State University Chi Omega sorority is doing at Wing-Out from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m.
The fundraiser is called Chris' Anatomy, after "Grey's Anatomy," and is hospital-themed, and proceeds are going to help Ball State junior Chris Horner, Christy Masters, a Chi Omega member and event coordinator, said. The "Operation" board game tournament goes along with the theme, she said.
Horner broke his neck while studying abroad in Australia this October. After the fall, he was temporarily paralyzed from the neck down.
"Wing-Out will donate a portion of their profits for Chris and we will also have donation buckets and an auction of items from places such as Taste of Texas restaurant, The Den, TIS and CBX," she said. "The band Know More Robots also will be performing and season two of 'Grey's Anatomy' will play on a TV."
Will Byrd, an assistant manager at Wing-Out, said one of his employees is a Chi Omega member and she asked if Wing-Out could do something to help Horner. A couple weeks later, other sorority members came and
discussed their fund-raising idea with Wing-Out owner Gary James, Byrd said.
"It's a good cause because they were telling me the guy's insurance won't pay for him to come back," Byrd said. "We're holding it to help get money to get him back here to the states."
Byrd said Wing-Out would probably do some decorations to go along with the hospital theme.
Horner said he heard about the event from some of the sorority members he met in Australia and he thought the fund-raiser was wonderful. He was pleased that the sorority would help him and said while it was unexpected, it was welcomed.
"I'm at a lost of words," he said. "They called and talked to me about it, and I told them it was a great idea. I didn't ask them, they came up with it on their own. I was very pleased about it."
Horner said he has been recovering well and in the past four-and-half weeks he has regained most of his muscle movement and feelings.
"A finger moves here and a toe moves there, and now I can handle things in my hand," he said. "I have gone from nothing to almost everything and am extremely lucky. I look around the ward and some [patients] have no feelings in their legs and never will, and I'm lucky I'll get probably most of everything back."
Dave Collier, a singer and guitarist for Know More Robots, said he had not heard much about Horner before the event, but after he learned more, he thought the benefit was a worthwhile cause.
"It was no question that I would perform," he said. "I've noticed from the Facebook group that there's going to be a pretty good mix of people who might not normally get together for anything else."
Hundreds of people have said they would come, and Horner said he is excited about the response and support.
"I've never really been a social person on campus and it's overwhelming to see everybody come out," he said. "At this point, I think it's great that everyone's coming together. I'm sure half of them I don't know and are just friends of friends who want to help, but it's great that the campus has come together for something like this and do this for me."
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