$92K Raised for Gamer Awaiting Lung Transplant, ‘I Just Want to Play GTA VI’
Humans showing amazing community support.
Jerry, an online creator also known as Void Only, has spent years sharing his love of gaming and music with his TikTok followers. Recently, according to People, the 25-year-old shared something else with them — that he was going into the ICU while awaiting a lung transplant.
In his TikTok video, he explained, “Well, this day was inevitable. I’m at the end of my ropes. My lungs can’t do it no more. So, I’m going to be in the ICU until I get a lung transplant.” The caption on the video read, “I just want to play GTA VI,” which is, of course, the most anticipated game of the year.
Jerry has lived with interstitial lung disease since he was 17. In a GoFundMe set up by his parent, Paris, they wrote, “[…] we have reached a point where he can no longer push any further, and he needs a transplant for a chance at healing and a future.”
A Particularly Challenging Case of Interstitial Lung Disease
Interstitial lung disease is a name for a variety of conditions, most of which cause inflammation and scarring of the lung tissue. As the scarring gets progressively worse, the tissue of the lungs becomes stiffer and thicker, which eventually makes it difficult for a person to breathe.
According to doctors, Jerry’s case is complicated, as his lungs are attached to his chest wall. As he put it in his video, the surgery entails “ripping apart my lungs from my chest wall, physically ripping them, then pulling them out, then replacing them with new lungs.”
Healing from this will take a lot of time, and according to the GoFundMe, his family will have to relocate for his care for anywhere from 6 to 12 months. Paris will be out of work throughout it all to help Jerry recover.
Though the fundraising page’s initial goal was $15,000, Jerry’s video struck a chord, and not only with his followers. Word spread, and his TikTok received millions of views and thousands of encouraging comments. Meanwhile, because humanity can be amazing, the GoFundMe page raised over $92,000.
Holding Out Hope
After Jerry saw the outpouring of love and support, he returned with another video. According to People, in the video he shared, “I did not expect that much love. It’s so many people, so many messages, so many… so many good-hearted people.”
And despite the risks the surgery holds, Jerry is holding onto a bright outlook. He explained that if something does go wrong, he’s not too worried, as he’s a spiritual person. However, both he and his doctor believe he’ll make it through just fine.
In fact, he already knows exactly what he wants to do once he makes it through this challenge. He told his followers in his second TikTok video, per reporting by People, “We make it out on the other side of this thing, I will be streaming GTA 6 whenever that drops. I will be streaming that. That’s going to be our goal as a community.”
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