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Vendor Hospitalized After Anime NYC Accident, GoFundMe Campaign Underway

Anime Palace vendor Wade Wiles suffered an injury due to an accident that took place at the Anime NYC convention on November 20. Katherine Mui, a friend of Wiles', established a GoFundMe campaign on November 24 to assist in covering Wiles' hospital bills, with Wiles' sister Gretchen listed as the beneficiary.

The campaign has raised US$21,778 of its US$50,000 goal, as of Tuesday.

Mui stated that Wiles was loading out the front entrance to the Javitz Center, and that he was still doing so more than 2.5 hours after the event was over, when the accident occurred. Mui said paramedics performed chest compressions and used an Ambu bag. She later overheard the paramedics say they also performed electric shock treatments on Wiles.

Mui stated Wiles was loading out of the front entrance to the Javitz Center after an "atrocious" load in before the convention started, where vendors waited 10 hours to get their merchandise into the convention center.

Wiles was admitted to Bellevue Hospital's Intensive Care Unit, but was out of the ICU as of November 30, according to the GoFundMe campaign.

Wiles has set up booths for Anime Palace across 46 conventions this year. He is a U.S. Navy veteran and also works for DoorDash, Uber Eats, and other delivery services. The campaign states he did not have medical insurance at the time of the accident.

Peter Tatara of LeftField Media, which operates Anime NYC, provided ANN with the following statement about the incident:

We are aware of a medical emergency suffered by an Anime NYC exhibitor on Sunday November 20, and we wish them a complete recovery.

Together with the Javits Center, we began an investigation into this incident immediately after it occurred. This investigation has included the review of CCTV footage as well as speaking with the security team which attended the scene and provided immediate medical assistance before emergency services arrived.

The investigation has not found any link between the event or any of its procedures and the medical emergency.

Sources: Email correspondence, GoFundMe