Forest Hills Rallies Behind Local Business Owner After Stroke

FOREST HILLS, QUEENS — The Forest Hills community is rallying around a beloved local business owner as he recovers from a stroke that has left him almost completely paralyzed.

Victor Kun has run Continental Photo & Video on Austin Street since 1988, taking passport photos for scores of neighbors and offering everything from digital retouching to custom framing.

Now, in a time of need, his fellow Forest Hills residents are giving back.

A fundraiser started by local historian and preservationist Michael Perlman has collected more than $10,000 to pay for Kun's medical care and supportive therapies as he struggles with the aftermath of a stroke that left him with locked-in syndrome.

The extremely rare condition involves a near-complete paralysis of the body, though patients are still conscious and able to think and may be able to make eye movements.

Kun suffered the stroke earlier in August, after he was hospitalized for a procedure to treat atrial fibrillation, an irregular heartbeat that increases the risk of other heart-related complications.

“I, and of course Vic, are so moved by the enormous love and support that our community has shown us,” his wife, Sofia Monge, told Perlman for the Forest Hills Times. “That is why Vic loved Forest Hills so much. There are so many good people and wonderful memories. Vic is a survivor and did whatever he needed to make the business work!”

Perlman, the fundraiser organizer, called Kun "a great friend to many in the Forest Hills community."

"Vic has always been kind, dedicated, skillful, creative, & generous, with a great sense of humor," he wrote in the fundraiser description.