I’m usually a pretty un-serious, goofy person. But I’m being as serious as I’ve ever been right now. I’m writing this email with tears in my eyes because my family needs your help.

John Ayers, my lifelong friend, cousin-in-law, and 4e DM has end-stage liver disease, having the battle of his life right now (literally), and the American medical system is just as much of a problem as the disease itself.

I’m sending this email because medical costs are stacking up, and the only place to turn is to you—through, you guessed it—GoFundMe.

Like I said, John’s very sick. He is in end-stage liver disease (cirrhosis) due to a genetic condition called Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency. Y’all, the guy’s never drank, smoked, or done drugs. This is something caused by genetics.

And it’s fucking unfair.

He’s on the list for a liver transplant through Vanderbilt Hospital in Nashville, TN. But those wait lists are absurdly long and becoming a recipient is far from guaranteed.

John Is Why I Even Can Email You Right Now

John’s a big reason why I am here. He helped me get started all the way back in 2008-09. He convinced me to join Twitter, was the first person I followed, my first follower, and always supported me when I began blogging about pop culture 16 years ago.

We’ve played Magic: The Gathering, Pokemon TCG, WWE Raw Deal, and honestly, more games than I’d ever be able to list or count. He got me to go to Gen Con for the very first time in 2004.

Plus, he was my DM the whole time I played D&D Fourth Edition. While he wasn’t the first DM I ever had, John was the one who got D&D to stick and be a staple of my life, not just a hobby.

Some of my top memories of D&D are from those sessions. They’ve become honestly some of my most cherished memories in general, too.

We played the D&D Next (5e) playtests together. We’ve rolled flopped cards and rolled dice together since I was 14 years old. And now he’s on the verge of failing his most important saving throw yet and needs your help.

John’s Already Beat Cancer!

To make matters even more of a punch in the gut, he beat cancer as a kid. Yeah, you heard me. He had non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, has been cancer-free since then, and now this. He survived an ordeal most of us live in fear of, and now because of genetics, he’s dealing with end-stage liver disease.

It’s bullshit.

And to make matters worse, we’re American, so our medical system is…well, even more bullshit. I don’t have to explain what our medical system is like. You’ve heard the horror stories. Only for us, it’s not a story. For John and his family, it’s reality.

Please Help However You Can

Look, I know that GoFundMe pages pop up a lot, and we can’t all donate to everything we want to. I am asking from the bottom of my goofy little heart, please help my friend.

If you can donate, please do. Any amount helps. I mean that, whatever you can spare, it’ll get John and his family that much closer to beating this thing.

If you can’t, we understand. But you can share this post, share the campaign, and help get the word out. Just pressing one of these buttons could save my friend’s life.

Thank you in advance. I love you guys.