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At 35, Adam is fighting a disease that may kill him. But his fight for Jewish pride keeps going.
Adam Fox grew up as a Reform Jew, in a middle-class family, in Tucson, Arizona. But as early as third grade, he found himself drawn to Judaism and Jewish values. A family trip to Israel inspired him.
In his public school he remembers students saying to him, “Oh, you’re Jewish? Well, you gotta believe in Jesus or you’re going to Hell!” As an eight-year-old, he felt the need to defend himself against such attacks.
As the time of his Bar Mitzvah was approaching, his family left the synagogue they had been affiliated with and needed to make some decisions regarding his upcoming Bar Mitzvah. “We were at a point where my parents said, ‘Maybe we will just hire a Rabbi and do something in the house.’”
Adam refused. He wanted to belong to a real synagogue so that he could have a traditional Bar Mitzvah. So his parents found a local synagogue and they started to attend.
Adam loved being Jewish, but for a time in high school, his focus shifted to friends and sports. He played basketball and became a star on his team.
In his junior year, Adam had a chance encounter in a Target parking lot with a friend of a friend who invited him to BBYO (B'nai B'rith Youth Organization).
"Dude, you’ve got to come. It’s just a bunch of Jews. We do fun stuff together.” It was a compelling sales pitch.
"Okay, I'll swing by," Adam said.
He started to attend BBYO events and within a year he became the chapter’s vice-president. As a result, he decided that wherever he ended up attending college, he was going to seek out Jewish life on that campus.
He chose Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, where noticed in an event advertised in a welcome packet for a joint Chabad and Hillel barbecue. After going to that event Adam felt really welcomed and wanted to get more involved.
The Friday night Shabbat dinners at Chabad left the deepest impression. "Being together with fellow Jews — that's what I cherish most from college."
During Adam’s sophomore year, his sister married an Israeli. His family took their second trip to Israel that winter. That experience reignited his love of Israel and Judaism, propelling it much further.
While at NAU, Adam served as a Senator to the Student Council. He also completed a political internship on Capitol Hill. He graduated Cume Laude in 2013 with two degrees: Political Science and Criminal Justice.
After graduating, Adam decided to dive into the Jewish nonprofit field, working for various organizations in Arizona, Ohio, Iowa, and Colorado. He eventually became the Jewish Life Director for Colorado State Hillel.
While at CSU, he empowered students to connect to their Judaism and live as proud Jews. He was enjoying his tenure however, after dealing with post October 7th antisemitism on his campus, Adam decided to switch gears and move into more direct advocacy for Israel and to protect Jewish communities from antisemitism.
“October 7th affected me greatly, and dealing with campus antisemitism and how my students were victimized was an uphill battle. Any time I raised the issue to the administration, it fell on deaf ears. Based on my experience on campus, I knew I needed to be more of an advocate. The growing antisemitism was unacceptable to me.”
But Adam’s advocacy would soon take an unexpected turn. On February 14, 2025, his whole life changed in an instant.
“It started out like a normal day for me. I had a protein shake and then went for my daily run. After I cooled down and had a post-run meal, I experienced incessant stomach pain.”
Adam went to lie down, trying many different positions to relieve the pain.
After two hours, he knew something was wrong. His dad took him to the ER, where he was diagnosed with Volvulus, a condition where the intestines become twisted.
The doctors told him that he needed emergency surgery. Adam couldn’t synthesize what had happened to him. “Just that day I was running. When I was told I needed surgery I didn’t fully understand the severity. After waking up the next day from surgery, I was told I had almost died.”
Three weeks after getting discharged, the condition reappeared. Adam experienced another excruciating episode, forcing him back to the ER where he spent another week in the hospital. It kept recurring, four times in total, along with several obstructions that required hospitalizations but fell short of meeting emergency surgeries—a situation medically unheard of.
The most recent occurrence took place in May of 2026, baffling the medical community. “The doctors don’t know why or how I got Volvulus or why it kept recurring.” This condition is very uncommon for someone that young. Because his stomach struggles to absorb nutrients, he has a HICKMAN line in order to receive nutrients from TPN, a white milky substance that contains all the nutrients needed to survive.
During the latest episode, Adam woke up at home with a feeling that something was wrong. Just five days earlier, doctors had removed the PICC line from his right arm after he developed a blood clot.
As the day progressed, Adam noticed there was no output in his ileostomy bag. At the same time, he was experiencing increasing abdominal pain. He recognized the warning signs and knew he needed to return to the emergency room immediately.
His parents drove him to the hospital, where he spent the afternoon undergoing evaluation. Doctors ordered a CT scan which revealed a massive bowel obstruction. The blockage was so severe that there was no route for intestinal contents to pass through.
A colorectal surgeon inserted a tube through Adam’s stomach in an attempt to decompress the obstruction. Because so little fluid had drained, the surgeon concluded that the blockage could not be resolved without yet another surgery.
The next day, Adam was taken back to the operating room. During the procedure, the colorectal surgeon discovered that Adam’s small intestine had completely twisted itself once again. The bowel had to be carefully untwisted, a delicate process that took several hours.
Recovery at that point was slow and difficult. While in the hospital, he had been relying on a nasogastric (NG) tube that ran from his nose into his stomach. Because his digestive system was unable to function normally, the tube continuously removed bile and other stomach contents.
As his condition gradually improved, doctors slowly reintroduced liquids and then food, carefully monitoring whether his digestive system could tolerate them. Currently, Adam is also at risk for aspirating pneumonia which is life threatening.
Despite the repeated setbacks and surgeries, Adam does not view the ordeal as the result of medical mistakes. Rather, he sees it as part of an extraordinarily complex medical journey—one that tested his endurance, patience, and resilience in ways he never could have imagined.
When asked how he remains so resilient and happy, he answered, “I’m relying on a lot of people, like my father and mother, who have stuck by my side, and all my friends come out to support me and visit me.”
His followers on X have also been a major support. He never imagined being a leader in that space. “When I started publicly revealing my medical journey, so many people were inspired. So many people have rediscovered or further expanded their passion for Judaism through me.”
Today and forever, I’m a Jew and I’m proud.
G-d bless America and Am Yisrael Chai! #RedWhiteAndJew pic.twitter.com/xQaY3u2K2n
— Adam Fox (@TheAdam027) May 7, 2026
Adam recently lost a very good Jewish friend, Guy David, who had a huge social media following on X. “He was with me for his latest hospital stay, and he passed away. I wondered, Why him and not me? He was healthy. Why did he have to pass?”
In memory of Guy, Adam started a project called A Mitzvah a Day. He spent a few days promoting it online.
“I recorded myself saying Shema, and encouraged other people to do mitzvahs.”
So many people have responded to Adam’s posts, writing things like, “You inspire me. I want to do more. I want to go out and show the world I’m Jewish.”
Adam understands he is now fulfilling the advocacy he wanted to do following October 7th. “I am an advocate in the social media space, encouraging people to be public about their Judaism and defend living their lives as Jews. I get to do that from the comfort of my phone.”
I am filled with everlasting Jewish pride & joy. My mentor and brother, Rabbi Dovie Shapiro, drove 4 hours to visit me. It’s because of him running Chabad of NAU that I am the Jew and person I am today.
I love @Chabad! #RedWhiteAndJew pic.twitter.com/5WKCD02FIN
— Adam Fox (@TheAdam027) May 17, 2026
Adam is realistic about the drastic medical circumstances he now finds himself in. “I don’t know where my story ends. I’m considering in-home hospice. If there is a chance to save my stomach, I’ll fight hard to keep it.”
In the meantime, Adam is fighting to spread the light of Judaism.
He gets flak from Christians who want him to convert. They write things like, “Adam you can still convert and accept Jesus before your next surgery or before you die.”
“It’s happened so many times, even on my social media account. I don’t mince words. I don’t believe in Jesus. We have the Torah, and that’s the core of our faith.”
When Adam posts a picture of himself in a hospital bed, trolls will write:
“Oh that's what you deserve for killing children of Gaza!” They have also taken pictures of Adam and photoshopped him to look like Hitler and other antiemetic tropes.
But Adam keeps moving forward and urges his followers to find a personal connection to Judaism that speaks to them the most.
“There are so many ways to connect to God and Judaism. You can find it by studying Torah. You can find it through the social aspect of the synagogue. Young adults can find it through Hillel or Chabad, or even Saturday morning synagogue services. Maybe what draws you is the culture or history. There is not one way, there are infinite ways to be involved in Jewish life. Don’t let someone else tell you what your way is. Find your way. Find that light that can grow inside of you. Find your passion within Judaism. Whatever way that is, do it.”
Adam encourages others to smile at a stranger, donate a little money, or do a mitzvah every day.
Adam is currently facing enormous medical expenses as he continues his fight for his life. Friends and supporters have established a GoFundMe campaign to help ease the financial burden on him and his family during this difficult time.
Click here to make a donation:
https://www.gofundme.com/manage/help-me-access-specialized-care-to-live
Click here to watch an interview with Adam.
A huge refuah shleima Adam!
Thank you for sharing your story, it is a real inspiration and obligates me, who is thank Gd healthy, to do even half of what you are doing.
Would you share your full (Hebrew) name {your name} son of {your mother's name} so we can pray for you?
I daven for Adam all the time. His Hebrew name is Shet Ben Shaya. Please keep him in your tefillos! He’s a great guy.
TPN can be lifesaving. I had been on it for decades. I hope his care team is using this nutritional support modality to the fullest and involving experts in the field to manage his care while on it. Seems to me it will be a permanent requirement for him but it works wonders.