Community rallies to support Bilal

The friendly smile and kind words from The Raven’s bartender Kheri Bilal was enough to make anyone’s day a little bit better. The affect he had on the community is visible now that he is in need of their help.

It shows not just in Woods Bay, but around the Flathead as a week’s worth of fund raising has raised $18,000 to help pay for Bilal’s medical bills. Part of that money was raised on Wednesday, June 6 at a fundraiser put on by The Raven.

Owner Lisa Cloutier said it was really good to see so many people show up to help support a fellow community member in his time of need.

Two weeks ago Bilal slipped and fell from a balcony at a Cabo San Lucas condo he was staying at with his wife Valentina. They were celebrating the first anniversary of their marriage.

He broke several bones on the right side of his body and incurred some brain trauma. The cost of his first round of emergency treatment in the hospital topped $6,000 and because he didn’t have travel insurance, he was required to pay his bills before leaving Mexico.

In fact at one point the hospital stopped treating him.

“They wouldn’t do any more treatment until payment was received,” Cloutier said. “That’s why it was so critical to get him out of there.”

Bilal’s ex-wife, Sarah, paid the balance with her credit card, which enabled Bilal to get airlifted to a trauma center in Phoenix on June 2. The cost of the med-evac was almost $20,000.

Since Saturday Bilal has undergone three surgeries. One for his wrist, which will require extensive rehabilitation, one for his right shoulder and arm, which was broken in several places, one for his brain. He is still waiting to have surgery on his right wrist.

“The doctors are pretty confident,” Cloutier said. “That once he comes out of it he’ll be fine.”

Cloutier said the doctors are also anticipating at least a full year for recovery of the his wrist, arm and shoulder as well as the need for speech therapy because of where his brain received the blow from impact.

Without travel insurance or medical insurance the Bilals will be responsible for the balance already owed and future medical bills.

Bilal started working for The Raven in 2010. Originally from Zanzibar, Bilal worked in Maui and as a mason in Whitefish before moving to Woods Bay. His wife Valentina covered the front of the house for The Raven since 2008, when she started coming to Woods Bay for the summer from Maldova.

“We’ve kind of become their family,” Cloutier said. She and her husband Brian also run Whistling Andy distillery in Bigfork, where Bilal worked from time to time.

And family sticks together, so it’s important to the Cloutiers to help one of their own. The Flathead Valley community has shown it feels the same way as the Cloutiers.

On June 2 many bars from around the valley donated tips to the fund and Flathead bands on tour donated proceeds from their shows. Last Friday a lemonade stand set up in front of Papa Woods Bay Market raised $303, Saturday’s Best of the Bay Fish Fry also donated proceeds to Bilal’s medical fund.

The Cloutiers have more fundraisers planned and so does the community. Cloutier said they received enough items for last Wednesday’s fund raiser auctions to hold another one. It will be set up at the Craggy Range in Whitefish. A day and time has not been settled on yet.

Anyone wishing to donate can do so online at http://fnd.us/c/fJoW3, in person at The Raven, Papa’s Woods Bay Market or Whistling Andy’s, or by sending a check addressed to Valentina Bilal to 14729 Shore Acres Drive, Bigfork, MT 59911.