When social media is meaningful

A community of Farkers rally around a cause

Technology trends and news by Bambi Francisco Roizen
September 9, 2008 | Comments (10)
Short URL: http://vator.tv/n/3f9

When total strangers rally around a cause, it makes the whole idea of social media actually matter. Recently, a man named Joe wrote a post titled "My son needs your help" in the forum section of Scout.com. The post was a plea for this man's son, who was diagnosed with a rare form of brain cancer. He is seeking to raise $100,000.

The post said this:

"As many of you know my son has been diagnosed with a very rare form of brain cancer. This is something that has devastated and displaced my family (my wife and I have 3 kids). We were supposed to go to New York City for a treatment that would help him. But we hit a snag. Our insurance will not pay for the treatment and the hospital will not take us now since the insurance will not pay for it. The cost of the treatment is $100,000. This is something that is far beyond what I or my family can afford. But I will do anything to get my son the treatment he so desperately needs. This treatment has shown promise and can extend my son's life. So my wife and I are asking you for help. Our goal is to get 100,000 people to donate at least a dollar. That will help us get our son the treatment that he needs."

Being a skeptic, I have a difficult time believing in the veracity of such posts. But the post was linked to Fark.com, a news aggregation site, with a tight-knit group of editors who keep a watchful eye on what's posted among the thousands of submissions they receive each day.

Joe's piece was linked to on Fark, with the headline "Farker Joe8122's son needs your help." It was linked to on Tuesday, and by the end of the day, there were already more than 1200 comments on Fark.

The replies ranged from "You got my 5 bux," to ""$5 on the way, " to "I'm in for 5," to "Why traveling to NY? Of the top Children's Hospitals, none of them are in NY" to "What kind of treatment is this?" to "I'll pray for you."

Reading these comments reminded me of the recent spate of emails my family and extended family and I have had. In these emails, we discussed my father's health. He's just had a kidney transplant in the Philippines. It was successful, thank God. It was nice to see the family -- our community -- rally around him.

In Joe's case, it's the Farkers rallying to support one of their own.

To be able to write a story and have it shared among people who care, is a nice use of social media. To be able to reach out to complete strangers who share, not blood, but a mere common interest in news or information, and receive their contribution and prayers, gives meaning to this whole notion of social media.

At the time of this writing, Joe's raised nearly $20,000. If you have a buck to spare, click here.

(Image source: Sachendra.wordpress.com)

Comments

Ezra Roizen, on September 9, 2008

I kicked in a few $'s. Cool story.

Jason A. Rodriguez, on September 10, 2008

Awesome! This is my kind of story, bringing communities together. This is exactly what we are aiming to provide at "iMtopics - What's important to you?"

Joe Jackson, on September 10, 2008

I am the Joe that was mentioned in this article. I saw this link on Fark. Thank you. Thank you for writing this.

I can not tell you how much the support we have gotten from the people of Fark has meant to us. My wife and I are just overwhelmed. To see so many people, who don't know us or our son, take such an interest in our son truly amazes us. There is a saying on Fark, "Behold the power of Fark!". Well, the power of Fark is going a long way towards helping my son get the treatment he needs!

I am sitting here beside my son's bed in the ICU ward. To know that so many people all over the world are thinking about him, praying for him, and trying to help him get his treatment has taken some of the sting out this horrible situation. The many, many emails and comments we have gotten, filled with kind words and thoughts, have truly helped my wife and I during this time. I can not adequately put into words how deeply this has touched my wife, myself, and our family.

And then I saw Vator had picked up on this story. I can not thank you enough for doing that. For the first time in a long while we have real hope that our son will get his treatment. Hope is something that we have not had a lot of lately. It feels good to have hope.

If anyone has any questions or would like updates my email is bama1977@gmail.com or you can visit Brett's Carepage (http://www.carepages.com/carepages/brettjackson). We update the carepage regularly as well as keep a running total of how close we are to our goal. Everyday we are getting closer! Thank you all so very much and please keep spreading Brett's story!

Joe

Joe Jackson, on September 10, 2008

Thank you very much. Thank you for helping my son get his treatment.

Joe Jackson, on September 10, 2008

The way Fark.com has come together and helped my son is amazing to see. Thank you very much.

Joe

sheryl calder-morrow, on September 11, 2008

I am Brett's "Nana" ( his grandmother) and I just wanted to stop in and tell you how much we appreciate this. I was with Joe in ICU when he first read this and I was so touched.
Thanks again..all the thoughts, prayers and heart felt words mean more to us than you will every know. I have written the local tv and radio stations but they didn't seem interested at all! It is so overwhelming to see that total strangers take to the time to care about others.

Bambi Francisco Roizen, on September 11, 2008

Hi, Sheryl
I can't believe the local tv and radio stations didn't pick up this story. I'm sure they will. But I think you and your family are doing a great job getting the word out. You should check out Careflash's profile on Vator. I think they also help bring people together to rally around a medical need.

sheryl calder-morrow, on September 11, 2008

Thanks..I was able to find his profile and I did send him an email about Brett and what's going on. Brett is in PICU and attempts to have him taken off the ventilator today were not successful. His trachea is so swollen that he was having to work way to hard to breathe. He was started on steriods and the doctors will attempt it again tomorrow after more tests. I have had several people email the local FOX6 station and local radio stations and we have heard nothing. People not only from Alabama where we are but from Texas, Delaware, Georgia and even Canada. This has gotten so much attention from the "regular" people and none from the media..go figger.
Thanks again for you support and interest. http://www.carepages.com/carepages/brettjackson is again the site for Brett and there are over 500 visitors to the site that is not counting here and Fark and other sites that have picked up his story.
thanks again
Brett's Nana

sheryl calder-morrow, on September 13, 2008

http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/article/20080913/NEWS/809120261/1007&title=Family_turns_to_Web_for_help_with_sick_child#

This is the link to the article that was in the Tuscaloosa News paper today.Thanks again
Shery (brett's nana)

Debra Horton, on September 22, 2008

I want to thank everyone so much for all you have been doing!! We couldn't get this far without all of you! We are at $39,735.63 and climbing! Woohoo!!

Brett is closer to getting the money needed but so much more is needed! Prayers have been answered so many times along the way! My hope for him is that the treatment can put him in remission! I want to see him not only attend a ball game but to walk in there!

Thanks so much for everything!! Lets keep the story going for him -

http://www.carepages.com/carepages/brettjackson

http://www.freewebs.com/windowshopping/howyoucanhelp.htm

Debra Horton, on October 19, 2008

Posted 19 October 2008 10:18 AM Hide Post
Update -

10/18/2008

Saturday Update~
Brett's been markedly stable the past few weeks and I think that his doctors will feel comfortable talking about getting him to the milestones that will allow us to take him home. Joe and I will be apartment hunting here in Birmingham next week and we're hoping to find something quick to get ready to have him out of the hospital (at least for a while).

His seizures have almost come to a standstill. His physicians are comfortable with the combination seizure medicines that he's on and they put him on a ketogenic diet (think Adkins) that he's fed 24 hours a day via his G-tube. It's been really nice not having to worry about it.

He still has staples and stiches in his head from his last surgery (2 weeks ago) and he'll be on antibiotics a bit longer just to be sure. Because of the chemotherapy drugs and radiation they are expecting his wound to take longer than usual to heal and will leave his staples and stiches in longer as well.

He has been fitted for a special wheelchair to accomodate his physical needs and goes to physical therapy once a day for range exercises. Speech therapy has come back in as well to work on getting a line of communication established. The doctors have said that since he makes noises when he is hurting that's our first step toward communicating with him again.

We're really grateful that you've all hung in there this long with us. We feel tremendously lucky that Brett has survived this long and we're hoping he'll continue to make some progress. Keep sending good thoughts, please. It really helps us and it helps us to help Brett.

Take care guys.

Tanda, Joe, Brett, Josh, and Matt.

As an added note:

We are aiming for November to make the trip to New York.
Medicaid will pay for all things but the treatment, including the trip to New York.
We are hoping we will have the money raised by then.
Funds are still needed!

Raised so far -

$45,655.23

Donation Link - http://www.freewebs.com/windowshopping/howyoucanhelp.htm