UPDATED: Oct. 30, 2017 at 8:56 p.m.

Colton “C.J.” Jones, a Syracuse University alumnus and former member of THE General Body activist group, was hospitalized this month after inhaling smoke from California’s wildfires.

More than 1,000 people have donated more than $50,000 to a fundraising campaign that aims to help get Jones back to his family in Philadelphia.

“I think (the fundraiser) is nothing but a blessing and a testament to who he is as a person,” said Stefany Jones, his mother.

Jones lives in California and works alongside his girlfriend, Shira Barlas, as an activist at Nation of Vibration, a collective of healers who hope to promote social justice through spirituality.

On Oct. 12, Jones was working outdoors, and smoke from the wildfires surrounded him, triggering an asthma attack.

He’d dealt with asthma attacks in the past but didn’t realize how bad they could be, Barlas said. Jones managed to make his way to a friend’s house so they could drive him to the hospital, but the situation escalated in the car.

On the way to the hospital, Jones stopped breathing and went into cardiac arrest. He was dead for about 10 minutes, with no oxygen moving to his brain, Barlas said.

His mother received a call in the middle of the night, waking her up. She was confused. Barlas said the doctors were asking to speak to Jones’ “next of kin.”

“I think I just detached from reality, and I didn’t really understand what they were saying,” Stefany said.

She was asked how aggressively she wanted doctors to try to save Jones’ life. She demanded they save him at any cost. After she hung up with the phone, she sat on her bed stunned, unsure of who to call, she said.

Colton Jones inhaled smoke from the California wildfires, which caused a severe asthma attack. Courtesy of Shira Barlas

After being resuscitated, Jones was left with brain damage and was in a coma at a hospital in Carmichael, California. He has opened his eyes and made subtle movements in the last few weeks. On Sunday, he was transported back to his family in Philadelphia.

While at the hospital in California, Jones couldn’t have many visitors because he was in the intensive care unit. His family — mother, father, siblings and cousins — all live in Pennsylvania. They visited recently, but couldn’t stay long.

The fundraiser, hosted on YouCaring.com, hopes to raise $100,000 to transport Jones to his family and help fund his long-term care. As of Sunday night, the page had helped raise $57,417. The campaign link has been shared at least 4,000 times.

Stefany said a large part of this support has come from her coworkers. She’s a flight attendant, and her colleagues shared the fundraiser’s link on social media. Some flight attendants, married to pilots, tried to get medical flights for Jones at no cost.

The medical plane needed to get Jones back to the East Coast left Friday, but Jones was unable to fly because he was too sick to make the journey, Stefany said. He was finally cleared to fly on Sunday afternoon.

Jones will be placed in an acute care facility when returning home, Stefany said. His mother is no stranger to comas. She said she was in one herself following an asthma attack in 2000. She was in a coma for eight days and on life support.

“If anybody can do it, it’s C.J.,” said Barlas, who’s known Jones since they were both 11 years old.

Barlas attended Occidental College in Los Angeles. Jones left for Syracuse. Their dreams and goals for the future aligned, though, so after graduation, she convinced him to take a risk and move to LA with her.

Barlas and Jones had a plan to buy property to build retreat centers and a safe haven for people of all backgrounds, she said.

“C.J.’s and my relationship, I would say, is written in the stars,” Barlas said. “We knew we were put down on this planet to work together, and we also just happened to fall in love in the process. It’s the most profound love I’ve ever had in my life.”

She plans to move with Jones to the East Coast, though she has built a life in LA.

He’s 24 now, but Stefany said she worries about her son’s health insurance. If the Affordable Care Act is repealed or changed, she said Jones could be taken off her health insurance policy.

Even if officials don’t repeal the ACA, Jones will still be taken off his mother’s insurance when he turns 26. Getting insurance could be difficult, due to a preexisting condition, she said.

Jones was an organizer for THE General Body, a group of students who held an 18-day sit-in at Crouse-Hinds Hall in 2014 over a lack of transparency by SU administrators. The group compiled a 45-page list of grievances and demands for the university.

Jones began his career as an activist at Syracuse University. Courtesy of Shira Barlas

He became interested in organizing protests in the most peaceful and productive way possible, said Elen Marie Pease, an SU alumna and friend of Jones.

“He was keeping THE General Body on the original purpose of what it was, which was purely peaceful improvement of Syracuse University and equality,” said Pease, who is also a former member of THE General Body.

At SU, Jones started reading work published by authors such as James Baldwin, Audre Lorde and Malcolm X, awakening him to social justice issues, Barlas said.

THE General Body was pivotal for his growth and acted as a turning point in his activist career, she said.

“This boy has affected so many people’s hearts and souls,” Barlas said. “And, if you read what people are writing about him, you can just see the impact that he’s had.”

CORRECTION: In a previous version of this post, Elen Marie Pease was misnamed. The Daily Orange regrets this error.

Published on October 29, 2017 at 10:39 pm

Contact Kennedy: krose100@syr.edu | @KennedyRose001