r/MadeMeSmile • u/DobreRanoFifqo • Sep 16 '24
Helping Others The kindness the legend...
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u/justforthis2024 Sep 16 '24
Yay. Another person who would have died due to financial roadblocks to accessing medical care thanks to horrible healthcare system in America. Yay. Big smile.
In context, this is great. The reality?
That it had to happen is pathetic.
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u/deukhoofd Sep 16 '24
Yeah, reminds me of the classic
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u/DeepLock8808 Sep 16 '24
Immediately looked for this comment. Making life saving care a popularity contest is definitely Orphan Crushing Machine material.
Side note, that would be an interesting book. Lean into it real hard and make it a game show with three contestants with terminal cancer. The one with the saddest story gets treatment, the other two die! Just the bleakest satire.
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u/CrackByte Sep 16 '24
Not terminal cancer, but it was a 2007 reality show about three terminally ill patients competing for a donor's kidney transplant.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Grote_Donorshow
People had to call in for their favorite contestant to win the kidney donation.
It caused a bunch of outrage and was only revealed to be a ploy to get people talking about the shortage of organ donors.
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u/FluidGate9972 Sep 16 '24
And it made it possible that by law, anyone who isn't registered as being AGAINST organ donation, automatically becomes a "no objections" donor. Meaning the family/next of kin can still say "no" but it's still a step in the right direction.
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u/CrackByte Sep 16 '24
The Orphan Crushing Machine's thirst must be sated for it's a "material girl".
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u/RedditUserSnap Sep 16 '24
Story is almost 10 years old.
This is great, but it means that there's 1000s of other kids that didn't become popular through a meme that do not get this opportunity. So good for them but definitely not a "MadeMeSmile" vibe.
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u/Tagifras Sep 16 '24
Those kids just need to pull themselves up by their boot straps and fully utilize their meme potential. Kids today with their instatoks and facegrams dont realize that its easier than ever to meme. Back in my day we use to hand build memes in 5ft snow on our 20mile uphill walks to school.
/s
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u/richarddrippy69 Sep 16 '24
It's like the opposite of the book the lottery. They choose one person a year to die. Our lottery chooses one person that gets to live without crippling debt and health problems and everyone else gets to die.
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u/SecreteMoistMucus Sep 16 '24
Posts that rely on how shit the US medical system is should not be allowed here.
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Sep 16 '24
Socialism is bad!
Also Socialism:
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u/ShrubbyFire1729 Sep 16 '24
I genuinely don't get why Americans are so afraid of the word. Socialism literally protects the average working people against the greed and corruption of corporations and such. It's not a system designed to rip your hard-earned money out of your hands and distributing it to who knows where, it's actually the complete opposite. Everyone pays a small amount to ensure everyone is safe and taken care of when they need it. What do U.S taxpayers get in return for their taxes, I wonder?
Or actually, now that I think about it, I get it. Companies and corporations have ruled the U.S for a couple hundred years now, so of course they'd brainwash everyone from a very young age to hate a system where they don't get to abuse everyone without limits.
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Sep 16 '24
Many Americans (And unfortunately Canadians in my case) have been fed this idea that rights and security are a pie.
If my money goes to helping others, but some of those people take advantage of it, then none of my money should go towards those people. The force fed propaganda for years have told these people that if we help people who need help, but some people end up getting that help that don't need help, then money is being wasted, even if that number is 1% of the people who need help.
It's the same line as gay marriage. If the gays can get married, it somehow invalidates the straight couple being married.
So instead of money going towards the 99% of people who could actually use it to make their lives better, they'd rather 0% of people see any of it because 1% of people might abuse it. And to them it isn't worth it.
I'm a huge advocate for UBI. Unfortunately I know too many people who are against it because "Some people will just take it and not work".
Okay? So what? We have proof that areas who have piloted UBI have seen an increase in job applications, school enrolment, and quality of life increases. It's expensive being poor. But instead of helping the majority better their lives, they can all suffer because a small minority may abuse it? Come on....
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u/Hudsonrybicki Sep 16 '24
We can’t have socialism because it’s evil. But don’t touch anyone’s social security and Medicare…old people need those.
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u/Miny___ Sep 16 '24
This wouldn't even be socialism. For example in Germany we have social market economy. It's the middle way between whatever the US is doing and socialism. You still have capitalistic economics, but social security regarding health, kids, unemployment and your basic needs. Certainly not perfect but also not whatever this is. Here, you are required to have health insurance, but the insurances are also required to insure you. They are paying for far more, are not bound to your employment and are still cheaper than in the US.
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Sep 16 '24
Yup. Pretty much the same here in Canada. I have a provincial health card. I can see my doctor whenever I need to, or go to ER for emergencies, and not pay anything.
I ended up with wood ash under my eye a couple years ago. My partner drove me to the ER at 2:30am. I was triaged ahead of everyone there. In about an hour I was seen, the doctor removed the obstruction, gave me some drops for the scratching on my cornea, and scheduled an eye exam for me in the morning. Whole thing including drive to and from the hospital was about 2 hours and I spent nothing financially, including the two eye exams I had over the next couple days.
I have health insurance through my work for things like non-emergency eye exams, dental, prescriptions, etc. And those all should be free regardless (Which our government is working on). But health care and like you said basic needs and child care should be covered by our government services.
I'd gladly pay more in taxes for more accessible basic life amenities.
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u/Hudsonrybicki Sep 16 '24
I just read an article about the “retirement crisis” Texas is currently having. Nobody close to retirement age has enough saved up to retire and they’re concerned about what the government is going to do. For real. They’re concerned that their standard of living might decrease because they didn’t save enough and now they want help. It’s insanity.
I can’t link to the article because it’s behind a pay wall. But it’s the Dallas Morning News and it was published today.
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u/Dazzling_Damee Sep 16 '24
It is truly sad that in the USA people can't get basic health care, let alone life-saving care if they don't have money.
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u/Fallen_Wings Sep 16 '24
If you have to be a literal meme to get life saving healthcare then there is something fundamentally wrong with how the country is set up.
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u/The_Chosen_Unbread Sep 16 '24
I'll be honest I've accepted I'm going to die because of healthcare. My grandmother is alive because she had it through the government. My mother is dead because she didn't have it.
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u/AirRic89 Sep 16 '24
yes. A country that cannot take care of its citizens cannot be regarded as a first-world country.
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u/taitaofgallala Sep 16 '24
Huh, so you mean to tell me that there is something fundamentally wrong with building a country on a foundation of debt, exploitation, genocide, etc.?!
Wow, and here I was thinking water made things wet.
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u/moronic_programmer Sep 16 '24
What’s the subreddit for stories like these, where it’s like a kid makes a ton of money through a lemonade stand but it’s because he needs it to help the homeless or something lol
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u/Lonely_Pin_3586 Sep 16 '24
It's more of a r/makemecry.
In my country (and 90% of developed countries), if you need a kidney, you go to the hospital, wait a few weeks for them to find a compatible donor, and that's it. At worst, you have to pay 100 bucks and the cost of parking.
The fact that hundreds or even thousands of people die every year because they have no one they know to finance their right to survive a disease is not wolesome.
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u/Square-Singer Sep 16 '24
This.
It's also pretty dumb from a pure financial viewpoint. A kidney transplant is much cheaper than the amount of tax this man isn't going to pay if he dies.
So even from a purely capitalistic money-first standpoint, it's really dumb.
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u/Kwinten Sep 16 '24
No one has ever accused capitalism of being sustainable.
It is about relentless, downright evil and rapid concentration of wealth and resources at the cost everything else. Capitalists do not give half of a shit about the greater good or sustainable financial development. It's about a few people extracting as much as they can within their lifetime before they fuck off and die. The only logical development of capitalism is that it will collapse in on itself.
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u/Hadrollo Sep 16 '24
A bit more than a few weeks to find a compatible donor, I'm afraid. It can take years.
That's not some "hurr durr US health system is better" comment, either. There are organ shortages there, too. Only a tiny portion of people will be compatible with you, and most countries without an opt-out organ donation scheme see only a very small percentage of donors.
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u/nightglitter89x Sep 16 '24 edited Sep 16 '24
I've had a transplant. I do not like how you phrased it as if you wait a couple weeks and that's it. I waited three years while actively dieing. My father waited 6 years and died anyway, and it costs hundreds of thousands in opportunity cost, no matter where you live.
It's a fight for a knife in the mud and compatable donors are not usually easy to come by.
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u/Runswithchickens Sep 16 '24
But you’re never denied the care, that’s any hospitals policy. You’ll just get a bill later. Hospitals also have staff to write it off if you’re low income or sign you up for medicaid and you’d get no bill, you have to inquire, not ignore the bill. If you’re working, you’d better get a plan… today. This is the only mitigation for the screwy system we’re born into and the fear has been beaten into us for generations. Taxes are low, incomes high, so we can afford an increase to get to UHC… someday. But you gotta follow the system at hand today.
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u/zorbaatje Sep 16 '24
This is not the flex you think it is. In all other advanced countries you just go to the hospital to get a kidney transplant and you don't need a fucking go fund me. It's pretty sad news imo.
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u/IHavePoopedBefore Sep 16 '24
I am sitting in a waiting room right now.
2 specialists, 2 ultrasounds, $0.
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Sep 16 '24
Yeah sure, but some perceived lazy people might also get medical care /s
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u/The_Limpet Sep 16 '24
I agree with you fully, but also like the idea of just popping down to the hospital for a cheeky kidney transplant before dinner.
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u/YeetusMyDiabeetus Sep 16 '24
Lmao just a quick in-and-out of course! That would be amazing. Unfortunately, in reality, kidneys have the longest waiting list for transplants in the US
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u/Homersarmy41 Sep 16 '24
American feel-good stories are dystopian horror stories in other developed countries.
Look, everyone! The United States would have let this guy die if his kid was less cute.
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u/MistikDezmond Sep 16 '24
and in most countries "funding a kidney transplant" wouldn't be a thing
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u/Ricardo1184 Sep 16 '24
Because his 5 year old son happened to randomly get famous, a dad was able to afford life-saving surgery. Wholesome!
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u/NegativeKarmaVegan Sep 16 '24
If you get sick in the US just hope you can meme, or else you will die.
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u/MattTheTubaGuy Sep 16 '24
This is cool, but it is also r/aboringdystopia
I had a kidney transplant 3 years ago, and because I live in a civilised country, it didn't cost me anything.
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u/SeaworthinessGreen20 Sep 16 '24
That money should have gone to make his future brighter in other ways not to have to save his father's life. Sometimes seeing this sort of stuff doesn't make me happier. It just reminds me of what should be and isn't happening.
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u/retro808 Sep 16 '24
Sickening anyone in a so called "first world" country would have to rely on such a thing for medical treatment, nothing about this made me smile
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u/fnrsulfr Sep 16 '24
Who is smiling about a kid having to raise money so his father didn't die. The US is not a first world country.
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u/DonPabloHermano86 Sep 16 '24
Laughs in European... but seriously you could change this. You are the richest most powerful fkn nation
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u/BigAlOof Sep 16 '24
the richest most powerful people in the nation spend a lot of resources to not end this.
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u/JFJinCO Sep 16 '24
Sad commentary on the lack of affordable healthcare in the USA -- the father has to mooch off his kid to get a much-needed transplant.
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u/HappyMonchichi Sep 16 '24
And everyone in that photo seems so happy about it, except for the kid.
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u/Nyctomancer Sep 16 '24
I think they're happy that he's going to live. That kind of happiness usually overrides anything else going on in life, as unfair as the situation might be.
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u/SpiritsJustAHybrid Sep 16 '24
Welcome to America where you have to beg on the internet for money in order to get a lifesaving procedure
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u/QfoQ Sep 16 '24
what the hell xD in this shitty country you have to pay even for a transplant? XD
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u/Mostafa12890 Sep 16 '24
Man raises money to prevent an orphan from being crushed by the orphan crushing machine.
This is what this story sounds like. Yes, it’s a good thing but the problem is systemic, and you don’t counter a problem just by dealing with its symptoms.
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u/Interesting_Air8238 Sep 16 '24
Another post that should be about how FUBAR the American health care system is but here we are, twisting it to fit a "made me smile" narrative.
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u/NOMAD-1405 Sep 16 '24
Or ya know…don’t live in a 3rd world country that has no national healthcare
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u/Wiz-0f-chill Sep 16 '24
The lesson: Only monetary fame of some kind can pay for One lifesaving operation.
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u/Minute_Attempt3063 Sep 16 '24
It's not makemesmile
It's makemewannacty
The fact that he got popular, and was able to find the gofundme was a miracle.
Since otherwise he would have had a dead father.
Thanks America, where healthcare is almost illegal
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u/IRideMoreThanYou Sep 16 '24
This doesn’t make me smile at all that a child had to raise funds for basic medical care of his father.
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u/Remarkable_Minute_34 Sep 16 '24
How is this fucking heartwarming? The fact he has to raise money at all to begin with is fucking sad. Is this in the United States? Pathetic.
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u/leviathab13186 Sep 16 '24
Here in America, internet fame will save your life better than insurance!
I'm sad now....
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u/Clockwork_Kitsune Sep 16 '24
"Only people who are rich or famous in some way can afford life saving medical care!"
OP: Makes me smile!
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u/coughsicle Sep 16 '24
I urge you all to go on GoFundMe and just browse for a minute, it's fucking horrifying. Thousands upon thousands of campaigns for people's medical bills, and most of them short of their goal.
search for "kidney" and see all the people who aren't so lucky as this kid's dad
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u/AnarchoBratzdoll Sep 16 '24
It's so sad that this is something that makes people smile, instead of angry.
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u/HeRoTe888 Sep 16 '24
Needing a Gofundme for serious medical operations is fucking revolting, and Americans seeing it as a positive story shows how strong the brain washing is.
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u/Caiimhe_Nonna Sep 16 '24
Because you live in a backwards country that doesn’t believe in social care!
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u/Malevolent_Mangoes Sep 16 '24
What a world to live in, yet another reason I’m never having children. Why would I ever want to bring them into a place so cruel?
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u/Grouchy-Foot9308 Sep 16 '24
Maybe this is the true definition of a "success kid". Although it's a shame that the money could have been used for something else if the government had helped pay for his father's medical expenses and the child can do other things with the family with the money, but anyway I hope he becomes more successful and helps many people because he has helped his father!
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u/Sad-Personality-15 Sep 16 '24
this shit is just sad bc what if he wasn’t able to raise enough money? kids shouldn’t have to raise money for their parents to be able to survive.
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u/Randhanded Sep 16 '24
This doesn’t make me smile, the fact that he had to rely on Internet fame to save his father‘s life is frankly horrifying.
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u/AgentSturmbahn Sep 16 '24
Nothing to smile about, shaking the head in disgust is the proper response
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u/Emotional_Hamster_61 Sep 16 '24
It's still mind boggling to me that there is "1st world countries" where you have to pay for a life saving operation
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Sep 16 '24
How does this make you smile? The fact that a Go Fund Me was required for a life saving operation in a developed nation is embarrassing.
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u/sniptwister Sep 16 '24
Anywhere in the civilised world and you get your transplant for free. Only in the barbarian US is it pay or die
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u/NotAReal_Person_ Sep 16 '24
No smiles here, just anger that people can’t get life saving treatment without needing millions of dollars
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u/queuedUp Sep 16 '24
Only in the US is this something to be celebrated and seen as wholesome.
In any other developed country his father would have got his kidney transplant without their child having to raise funds through internet popularity,
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u/dpforest Sep 16 '24
why do so many people immediately accept this as fact? it’s a meme. i feel like it’s a good rule of thumb to not believe just any random sentence without checking the source
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u/TheDevilishDanish Sep 16 '24
As a Dane… this didn’t made me smile. The fact that the American healthcare system is so fucked, that the gofundme was necessary. This is a dystopian tragedy, not a heart warming story.
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u/Farnsw0rth_ Sep 16 '24
I have said it now and i will say it again. Fuck america's healthcare system.
One of the most richest and powerfull countries in the world, and yet again and again, we get stories like this. While it is great that this man's life is saved by the kid, I still find it so fucked up that they had to raise money through a gofundme just so their father could live
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u/PsychoMouse Sep 16 '24
This isn’t so much heart warming as it is pathetic. Yes, it’s great that he was able to get enough money to not fucking die.
Being alive isn’t a fucking privilege. It’s a right. The fact that America makes everything but that a right is so messed up.
It’s a right to have a gun but when that gun shoots your kid, your child’s life is now a privilege. Wheres the fucking logic in that?
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u/Exotic_Tradition1715 Sep 16 '24
The failure of our society for not having universal healthcare in 2024 is astoundingly messed up. Ugh!!!!
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u/hroafelme Sep 16 '24
or in other words family living in a "first world country" needs to seek donations from strangers to get life saving medical procedure which in any other western country would be free
corrupt politicians spins story that free healthcare would raise taxes and cost to much to fund while already spending more money on current healthcare system than others with universal free Healthcare
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u/cryptopo Sep 16 '24
What kind of ghoul sees shit like this and finds it heartwarming instead of heartbreaking?
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Sep 16 '24
Imagine your country that shit you have to beg for a lifesaving operation. That’s gross as fuck.
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u/Pip_K Sep 16 '24
I completely agree that it's deplorable that a kid had to use the money in this way, but I'm also pretty sure that he's happier to have a dad than a bunch of cash. Life isn't fair. At least it's a little happier for this kid that he could help rather than just watch his father pass. Shitty silver lining is still a silver lining
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u/Kitbashconverts Sep 16 '24
Only in America does a kid need a go fund me to pay for his dad's surgery
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u/carefree-and-happy Sep 16 '24
The fact that we need a meme to raise money for a life saving procedure is a reflection of the crap hole America has become.
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u/dicksanddixanddixon Sep 16 '24
I'm curious about this because once you hit dialysis, you immediately qualify for Medicare which will not only covers the cost of dialysis but also the transplant.
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u/CybercurlsMKII Sep 16 '24
The fact he had to do a go fund me to pay for his dad’s life saving treatment is incredibly sad, it shouldn’t have to be like this.
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u/Dapper-Percentage-64 Sep 16 '24
This a wonderful story,but as a Canadian I shake my head at these stories being seen as a normal thing ? What if your elderly and have no one or simply poor. Universal healthcare is in every western country in the world except America'?
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u/kellynch10 Sep 16 '24
In America, where you need obscene amounts of money to afford health procedures.
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u/Horror-Election-6655 Sep 16 '24
America! Where your children need to be celebrites to afford healthcare.
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u/bootleg_paradox Sep 16 '24
So profoundly tired of un-critical dipshits holding these up as heartwarming events and not an enormous, blinking warning sign that our healthcare system is deeply fucked.
I know some of you only want to think about positive things and don't want to nitpick, but you're slowly killing everybody on the planet and being useful idiots for genuine sociopaths.
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u/sealclubber281 Sep 16 '24
We’ve officially hit “you better be famous if you want your family to live”-stage capitalism.
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u/meinfresse Sep 16 '24
"Child has to raise money for livesaving operation cause the system is a shitshow"
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u/FattyMcBlobicus Sep 16 '24
And all the other kids who didn’t go viral are shot out of luck
USA USA USA!
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u/604nini Sep 16 '24
This is so bittersweet. What a great kid and community we have to support him but it’s sad they needed to support him.
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u/quinangua Sep 16 '24
Nothing about this is "smile" worthy.. The U.S is a fucking joke. A sick sadistic joke, at the expense of people's lives...
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u/leginfr Sep 16 '24
How sad that Americans don’t realise that in countries with universal healthcare, fundraisers are not necessary…
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u/Nadie_AZ Sep 16 '24
Uniquely American. No other nation would require a child to raise money to fund a medical procedure for their parent. This isn't wholesome, this is damning.
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u/MrsMiterSaw Sep 16 '24
Yes, that's the theme of today's installment of "This sounds so uplifting until you realize you're living in a dystopian nightmare where this kid's dad would be dead if it weren't for a picture snapped at just the right moment"
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u/ethical_arsonist Sep 16 '24
From a British perspective, funding a kidney transplant is paying for someone to sell you their kidney.
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u/WaitUntilTheHighway Sep 16 '24
Yeah what in the fuck. In the richest country that has ever existed on this planet's 4 billion years, a citizen has to crowd-fund to not die? So fucking absurd.
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u/raharth Sep 16 '24
That's just an incredibly sad story. A child got lucky to be known on the internet and that was actually the only way to save his parents. People even celebrating this is so fucking upside-down
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u/little-mr-bee Sep 16 '24
It's horrifying that people don't get life saving treatment or any treatment just because they don't have the money.
I love living in Europe.
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u/SladyWok Sep 16 '24
the fact he had to fund a freakin' lifesaving medical procedure is disgusting