JACKSONVILLE, Fla., April 15 (UPI) — Any time spent on the Internet will shed some light on why ‘Success Kid’ is such a, well, success.
The meme, featuring a triumphant toddler holding a fist in the air, was taken of Sammy Griner in 2007 during a beach retreat. Since then, it has been used with the captions ‘I’m gonna F you up,’ ‘I hate Sandcastles,’ and ultimately became ‘{link:Success Kid: “http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/success-kid-i-hate-sandcastles”,nw},’ used with captions like “Winning!”
“He was pulling sand up to his mouth, so I took the picture and quickly stopped him,” mother and picture-taker, Laney Griner, {link:told WJCT news: “http://news.wjct.org/post/success-kid-jacksonville”,nw} in 2013. Her son is now 7 years old.
The Griner family may have gotten a lot of attention from the cute, viral meme, but something more troublesome affects them from behind the scenes—Sammy’s father, Justin, is in need of a kidney transplant and the money to pay for it.
The Internet graciously responded to the family’s need. As what looks like a massive “Thank You” from over 3,000 “netizens,” the Griner’s {link:GoFundMe site: “http://www.gofundme.com/opp5cs”,nw} raised over $82,000 in one week, far surpassing their original goal of $75,000.
{link:ABC News reports: “http://abcnews.go.com/Health/internet-success-kids-dad-kidney-transplant/story?id=30288035″,nw} that Medicare will cover 80 percent of Justin’s post-surgery costs, but that the family will still need $12,000 in the first year on medications alone—but he will be on medication for the rest of his life.
“It’s just all been really amazing,” mother Laney said. “It never stops being weird, and it never stops being awesome,” she admits about the meme’s popularity and the apparent good fortune it continues to bring her family.
Father Justin is a patient at Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida and has yet to make the list for a deceased donor. The family is reportedly hoping to find a living donor soon.
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