Last September, Richard Propes started his 150-mile ride to eliminate medical debt. Now, his journey is on the big screen at the Heartland International Film Festival.
The local activist and film critic rode across the state in his wheelchair, stopping in towns and cities as he raised over $100,000 for Undue Medical Debt, a national nonprofit that forgives medical debt in bulk through donations.
Medical debt, which affects at least 1 in 6 Hoosiers, is also personal for Propes: He faced hefty bills from amputations, cancer and a spinal condition. That’s why he set off to help others in the same situation.
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“We are supposed to bear one another’s burdens,” he told Mirror Indy in an interview last year.
“The Tenderness Tour” documentary will play at 2:45 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 18, at the Indy Arts Center, 820 E. 67th St. Propes and producer Ed Paul Fry will participate in a Q&A after the screening. Tickets are available online.
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Mirror Indy reporter Mary Claire Molloy covers health. Reach her at 317-721-7648 or email maryclaire.molloy@mirrorindy.org. Follow her on X @mcmolloy7.
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