Club urges members to donate for Aubuchon winner's hospice care

The National Press Club is grieved to learn that freelance photojournalist Linda Tirado, the recipient of the Club's 2020 domestic John Aubuchon Press Freedom Award, is dying and has entered hospice care as a result of injuries sustained during her coverage of the Minneapolis protests surrounding the killing of George Floyd.

Club President Emily Wilkins is in contact with Linda and working on a way to honor her legacy. Club members are encouraged to make a donation to Linda to cover the costs of hospice care. 

Donations can be sent through Venmo (Linda-Tirado-3), PayPal (Bootstrapindustries@gmail) and Zelle (806.433.6075).

“We send our love and admiration to Linda Tirado, a freelance photojournalist, who we learned today has entered a hospice in Tennessee. We are also sending some funding to support the costs of her care," Wilkins said in a Tuesday statement, urging Club members to consider making their own donations. “Linda’s husband is doing his best to cover the bills for her care, but they have to support two children as well."

While photographing the Minneapolis protests, Linda sustained a traumatic brain injury from a "non-lethal" foam plastic bullet fired by police that cost her one eye. That injury, and the dementia she developed as a result, have steadily worsened.

"The only thing that matters to me lately is the moment that I’m inhabiting, the endless thirsty need to feel for as long as I can. That is death, that is knowing that your time is truly limited instead of the dull knowledge that we all die some time," Linda wrote in a June 13 Substack post. 

"You feel it coming, when you’re lucky enough to have time to fix your affairs. You start to think about your decline and how much you’ve lost since yesterday, how many minutes you wasted with silly bullshit and not truly living."

Linda sued the Minneapolis Police Department and received a settlement of $600,000 which has mostly been absorbed in medical fees. She has been unable to work or earn an income since the incident.

Linda talked to Update-1, the Club's podcast, in August 2022 about covering civil unrest.