Team DailyPedia
You may have seen this cutie patootie on your Facebook, Instagram and other social sharing sites for quite some time now.
He is Sammy Griner. The then 11-month-old toddler has been an Internet sensation over the years with his photo with clenched fist shared, edited, and turned into several memes.
Today, the “success kid” is already grown up, is 8 years old, and is turning once again to the power of the Internet asking help for his father’s kidney transplant.
The youngster’s mom, Laney, told the Daily Dot, “One can only survive with no natural kidney function and using article kidney filtering for so long.”
The Griner family recently put up a GoFundMe account to raise money for the medical treatments. Their goal is to gather at least $75,000. Thankfully, in just a matter of one week, they already received over $86,000.
Laney told ABC News that the Medicare will cover 80% of the post-surgery costs. However, the first year of medication will already costs $12,000. And with 6 years on dialysis under a 12-hour per week treatment, they will need a huge amount of cash. “The only way to save his life is to get a transplant. There’s no other way around that,” she said.
The mom also admitted she was at first hesitant about her son’s photo going viral years ago. “By now, it’s just out there. What am I going to do? At least it’s positive,” she said. “Without that happening, how much could I get this recognition about my husband’s kidney transplant?”
While some understand their plight with their online fundraising and using their son, others sympathized and expressed their willingness to help.
“We’re the parents of ‘Success Kid’ for goodness sake. If anyone understands the power, the mass, and goodwill of the Internet, it’s those of us lucky to experience it daily,” she added.
Aside from monetary contribution, the family is still hoping for anyone who would like to be tested to see if they are match with Justin, Sammy’s father.
