Dragoneer, Owner of Fur Affinity, Has Passed Away
Neer’s Passing Highlights Healthcare Pitfalls in the U.S.
Note: “Cover” image on this post was sourced from Twitter user ArtieNuki for their tribute art to Dragoneer. As my substack is not-for-profit, I did take the liberty of utilizing it but all credit should go to ArtieNuki and their beautiful work immortalizing Neer’s larger-than-life impact on the furry community.
On August 6th, 2024, the Fur Affinity website posted the news that their founder and owner, Dragoneer (AKA Neer) had tragically passed away from complications stemming from a known health issue with which he’d been struggling. Adding insult to injury were his extra issues stemming from his involvement with the particular Virginia health system with which he dealt: UVA.
Those who followed Neer for a long time would have noted that his health was deteriorating somewhat slowly until the end of 2023 when the tweets about it became closer and closer together and it became apparent that his pulmonary issues were going downhill fast. Like most Americans, Neer’s health was tied directly to his financial concerns as any Joe Schmoe in the U.S. will tell you: your insurance is often contingent on your employment. Depending on what state you live in, your insurance is something you get through having a traditional job where your employer can offer you packages through an insurer who works with your company. Dragoneer did not have a traditional job and lived in Virginia which does have an Affordable Care Act mandated healthcare marketplace but even those plans can be outside of a person’s financial capabilities, leaving them floundering with Medicaid instead.
Even back in 2022, Neer had been complaining about UVA Health but his tweets about his search for a diagnosis sent Furry Twitter into an uproar, especially when he posted a screenshot of the text sent to him by their automated billing statement system to inform him of his personal responsibility: $25,224.54. Immediately prior, he lamented that the appointment with the specialist he had been looking forward to did not go as planned, that he learned nothing new and that he would need to be placed under anesthesia for a “full biopsy.” Without insurance, such a thing in the United States might as well cost as much as buying a beachside mansion in Florida. Granted there are often ways around things like this such as declaring medical bankruptcy, but the prohibitive costs often prevent doctors and patients from moving quickly enough to solve problems before they reach the point of no return—such as the case of Dragoneer.
According to his tweets, UVA considered him “uncooperative” because he was too sick to be present for them to assist him in an application for Medicaid and in order to do so without him, they closed his UVA Health Account. A short time after that tweet, he stated, “been coughing for four hours straight, can’t sleep, lungs will eat me”[sic]. Others across the internet weighed in with their own issues with not just Health services but insurance providers and doctors, especially in Red states (for non-Americans, those are states controlled by Republicans) while a bizarre vocal minority chimed in with how weird and problematic they found Dragoneer (thanks for that guys, but he was a furry so like…?).
A GoFundMe was set up after the death of the (mostly) beloved owner of FA to help resolve some of his leftover debts, keep Fur Affinity afloat, and help out his family, amassing over 142,957 dollars in just two days. The fund, labeled “Support Fur Affinity: Honoring Dragoneer’s Legacy” was even donated to by the popular monster dildo creator Bad Dragon, the company moved enough to donate $10,000 to the goal. It is sad to note, nevertheless, that with so much public support and popular appeal, no one could have saved Neer. It would be impossible to speculate whether or not a GoFundMe for his medical expenses prior to his death would have made anything happen faster or easier. These have been some hard days for members of Fur Affinity as they grapple with the loss of the furry of furries, the one who made so much of their lives and connections online what they were.
Meanwhile, UVA has come under fire from the furry and fandom communities, lambasted for being an infamously predatory health system. Twitter user rudenshiold tweeted an article from KFF Health News about UVA’s penchant for suing thousands of their own patients, “seizing paychecks and claiming homes” along with his own words: “For those not from Virginia, or just unaware, (at)uvahealthnews SPECIFICALLY is infamous for ruining patients’ lives with aggressive debt collection lawsuits. They steal sick people’s paychecks, homes, and lives—exploiting patients’ most vulnerable moments.” Twitter user alstorotter stated about the Dragoneer issue: “[…] UVA Health murdered someone today.” Others calls for protests against the health organization, but it is at current unknown if there are any concrete plans for anything organized.
For the most part, Dragoneer’s untimely death and his struggles with the insurance landscape of Red America have driven home to many young internet-savvy furries the importance of voting in a manner that reflects a compassionate ideology—that resists the status quo of insurance in America and brings to the fore the ideal of a universal healthcare system accessible to all Americans regardless of their career or job status. That someone so prominent and well-regarded and visible could struggle so desperately against their own financial circumstance in the face of America’s corrupt healthcare system should be a wake-up call for all furries and non-furries alike. No one is safe from the crushing wheel of a capitalistic healthcare system and they don’t care about you.