"I was asking the doctors if I would have to get my fingers amputated and none of them would give me a yes-or-no answer. It was really scary."

By Hannah Metzger

January 29, 2025

Ryu "Max" Maxwell came to Denver for a work trip earlier this month. Today, the 21-year-old Washington resident is lucky to be returning home with his life — and all of his fingers.

Maxwell is recovering from hypothermia and severe frostbite after he was robbed and left unconscious in the snow in Denver during the early hours of Monday, January 20. Maxwell says he came to town for a two-week job as an independent contractor field technician. One night halfway through his trip, he got off work early and went to the Round1 arcade in Littleton to play pool.

At the arcade, Maxwell says he made friends with a pair of brothers who agreed to drive him back to his Denver hotel after his phone died, leaving him unable to order an Uber. But he never made it to the hotel.

Maxwell was discovered lying unconscious on the ground at around 4 a.m. near a gas station in the Montbello neighborhood, one highway exit before his hotel, he says. His wallet, cell phone and earrings were gone, and he was wearing only a t-shirt and sweatpants in below-zero temperatures and snow.

When he was rushed to the hospital, Maxwell's body temperature had fallen to 81 degrees and he had frostbite on his hands, feet, arms and buttocks, he says.

"I remember waking up expecting to be in my hotel. I had no idea what was going on," Maxwell recalls. "I look down at my fingers and they're all purple. ...I was really scared I was going to lose my fingers. I was asking the doctors if I would have to get my fingers amputated and none of them would give me a yes-or-no answer. It was really scary."

The frostbite is the most severe on his hands, but he is expected to keep all of his fingers as long as he can avoid infection, Maxwell says. He has nerve damage in his hands and arms, but it is believed to be temporary.

Maxwell says the last thing he remembers is feeling disorientated in the brothers' car, insisting to them that he needed to get back to his hotel right away. He drank alcohol that night but speculates that he might have been drugged or physically attacked. In addition to the frostbite injuries, Maxwell says he has a large bump on the side of his head and scratches on his arms.

When he didn't show up for work the next morning, Maxwell's coworkers, friends and family members began looking for him. One friend, Cameron Martinson, called every hospital and jail in the area before he found Maxwell at UCHealth in Aurora.

Martinson created a GoFundMe to raise money for Maxwell's medical and living expenses; Maxwell says he won't be able to work for months until his hands recover. The fundraiser has collected just over $5,000 as of January 28.

"I'm more than grateful that people care. It means a lot to me," Maxwell says. "I'm super grateful to be alive and super grateful for my family. But this is a huge hindrance. I really liked the job I was doing and it sucks I can't work. I hate the fact that I have to ask my family for help; they have to help me change clothes, they have to cook for me, they have to pretty much do everything for me."

Maxwell says he filed police reports in both Denver, where he was found, and Jefferson County, where the arcade is located. The Denver Police Department is investigating the incident as an apparent assault, according to a spokesperson. No arrests have been made.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5672458&forum_id=2Elisa#48602672)