'Nightmare on Elm Street' Actor Asks for Help Amid AIDS-Related Hospitalization
Nightmare on Elm Street actor Mark Patton has been hospitalized due to complications with his AIDS diagnosis and is asking for help from fans. HIV+ Mag was the first to report that Patton's manager, Peter Valderrama, set up a GoFundMe for the A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge star. According to the fundraiser details, Patton has been hospitalized in Mexico but desperately needs to be transported to a U.S. medical facility due to the overwhelming number of Covid-19 cases facing the doctors and nurses who are currently caring for him.
"Basically I am asking for help I will not be embarrassed. I just want to be healthy and at home with family," Patton wrote in a message shared by Valderrama on the GoFundMe page. I need to move to American Hospital in Mexico where they can give me the treatment i desperately need. The American Hospital is $300 dollars a day with nurses, doctors and meds. The Mexican hospital are overwhelmed with Covid and I am too compromised to remain here."
Unfortunately, Patton had been scheduled to make an appearance at an event in Chicago, Illinois but was unable to attend due to his illness. "I feel very stupid for being overly optimistic. I thought I would be flying to Chicago today but I promise that when I am well enough to fly to USA I will. I have faced these medical challenges before and I know I have a lot of fight left in me- but the last few years have been crippling for me financially."
The beloved actor then concluded, "I have always lived Month to month and I have been struggling with medical visits since October. If anyone is able to contribute it would mean a life-saving option for me to be recovering in a place that can cater to my condition. Thank you all. Love, Mark." At the time of this writing, the GoFundMe set up for Patton has brought in over $40,000 from his loving and supportive fans.
Patton is most well-known for his role as Jesse Walsh in A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge, a film that has been the source of much conversation in the horror community over its homoerotic subtext. In 2019, Patton was the subject of a documentary — Scream, Queen! My Nightmare on Elm Street — which explored the themes of the film and the impact on Patton's real life as a gay man. He is often regarded as the first-ever male "final girl" in horror cinema.