Carli Richards was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Then, she made the right friends at the right time.
22-year old Carli, along with her boyfriend Chris, was inside the theatre Friday night when all hell broke loose in Aurora, Colorado. In a blog post she wrote while in the hospital late that night, she said they noticed tear gas in the theatre - a sign for the two Navy Veterans to get out right away. After running out of the theatre, Carli noticed that her left side was covered in blood, where she had been shot.
Carli is recovering, with help from some people who read that blog post. Among those moved by her writing was Cyan Banister, CEO of Zivity, a San Francisco company that lets would-be models and photographers submit photos, often racy, to the site. If Zivity members like the photos enough, everybody gets paid. Zivity has a relationship with a somewhat similar site called "Suicide Girls." Carli has hopes of being part of both.
In fact, on her way to the theatre that night, Carli stopped for a photo shoot - that picture set is on its way to both Zivity and Suicide Girls.
Which is where Banister comes in. Already moved by the Aurora tragedy, she says "it really hit close to home" when she found out about Carli. Banister read the blog post, and decided to step up. She wrote a check to help pay Carli's medical expenses, and then, along with the Suicide Girls site, decided to support a fund that's helping other Aurora victims.
If you're interested in helping out, Banister is directing people (and money) to www.hopemob.org
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She also hopes to someday actually meet Richards. "I hope I meet her. I hope the photo set ends up on our site, and I hope we'll be able to tell all of our members about her story."
Scott can be found on Twitter: @scottbudman
