$27K Raised For Wilmington Barber Hurt In Freak Accident

WILMINGTON, MA — Over $27,000 has been raised in under a week for Wilmington resident Steve Silva, who had to get emergency open-heart surgery after falling on his own barber shears at work in Boston Friday, Feb. 12.

Silva either tripped or slipped while cutting hair and fell on his shears, his sister Jennifer Silva said.

"We know it hit a major artery and he needed to be rushed to the hospital for emergency open-heart surgery," Silva said. "The doctors say he’s very lucky to be alive."

The Silvas are longtime Wilmington residents — Steve, 29, has lived in town his entire life.

"He loves being a barber and we hope he can go back to doing what he loves as soon as he can recover," his sister said. "We know at the very least that open heart surgery will take 6-8 weeks to heal from and he has a very long road to recovery ahead of him."

The GoFundMe fundraiser, which has gotten $27,003 donations from 496 donors as of Thursday afternoon, is available here.

"We are asking for some help for not only the medical bills but the potential months he will be out of work," the organizer Michelle Mastropietro wrote. "From the bottom of our heart, we appreciate anything you can do."

The accident was at Boston Barber & Tattoo Co.'s Bowdoin Street location. It was captured by video surveillance, obtained by CBS Boston.

"We are sad that we can’t visit him in the hospital due to covid restrictions," Jennifer Silva said.

Christopher Huffaker can be reached at 412-265-8353 or chris.huffaker@patch.com.