12/02/2025
Rock-N-Roll family, Groove Council, Cubs faithful, Notre Dame Irish for life… Listen up. This is Jay’s crew, and we’re done whispering.
You know him as Jay Scott: the Electric Voice of The HookRocks! on Pantheon Podcasts, the Des Plaines lifer who’s been screaming about Tuk Smith, Goodbye June, Jax Hollow, Leilani Kilgore, and every original rock band or legacy artist that ever made your soul catch fire. The guy who could talk Cubs walk-offs, Notre Dame miracles, and killer guitar solos until the sun came up.
That man is Jeff Piser. Proud Dad to college student Christopher. Son of Nancy, and the late Bob Piser. Brother to Joe Piser uncle to Joey and Owen. And right now, at 50 years old, he is Fighting the Battle of his Life in his mom’s small house, and we are running out of time and money to keep him in it.
February 26, 2025: a freak fall shattered both legs. Emergency surgery triggered a massive stroke. In one cruel instant he lost his left side completely. Paralyzed. Over 200 +pounds of dead weight. His once-booming voice? Now fractured, speech slurred, sentences cut short, with every word a Herculean effort.
Blue Shield Blue Cross paid for Rehab until October… then they Cut everything. Denied. Done.
All the progress we celebrated in September (standing for 12 seconds in a frame, chewing real food, tiny finger twitches) has slowly plateaued. Muscle is wasting away with atrophy. Spasticity is winning. Doctors are blunt: without aggressive daily therapy, the neurological window also slams shut.
Today, December 1st, 2025:
Jeff lives in his 79-year-old mom Nancy’s home. She cannot lift him, cannot transfer him, cannot do any physical care. Her only job is meds and meals.
A private home-health agency handles the rest: skilled nursing, diabetes management, incontinence care, bathing, dressing, and whatever scraps of PT/OT/speech we can still pay for.
Real cost in Chicagoland right now: $5,800–$7,200 a month for 30 to 40 hours a week. That’s the bare minimum to keep him safe.
Full-time care (what he will soon need) is $20K to $24K+ a month. Insurance covers Zero.
The GoFundMe is running on fumes. The next 60 days will burn $15K - $20K just to stop the backslide, before we even talk about wheelchair vans, home ramps, or the intensive therapy that could still bring him back.
This matter is of Nuclear Urgency.
Every dollar you give right now... is an hour of therapy, a nursing visit, an aide shift that keeps Jeff from losing the rest of what he’s fought nine months to claw back.
We’re beyond asking... and now begging the Rock community Jay has championed for years, his co-workers, real estate colleagues, childhood friends, family, and everyone who’s ever crossed paths with him to Champion him now. Share this like your life depends on it, because his does.
https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-jay-scotts-stroke-recovery
From Jeff, pieced together in the clearest words he can still form: “Thank you.”
We Love You, Brother. We’re all in. Be all in with us.
"Jay’s Crew" – December 1st, 2025
Jay Scott, the voice behind the widely popular Hook Rocks podcast on the Pantheon … Jason Johantges needs your support for Support Jay Scott’s Stroke Recovery
