Hi, my name is Nicholas Iwamoto. My world came to a crashing halt when I was diagnosed with lipodystrophy in 2021. Lipodystrophy is a rare disorder that causes permanent fat loss and severe metabolic dysfunction. It is a progressive disease which causes organ damage and significantly reduced life expectancy. The painful and debilitating nature of this illness has had a disastrous impact on my finances and my ability to work.

Something happened in 2024 which brought me out of the abyss and saved my life. I reconnected with my best friend, Brit. For years, we saw each other through the most punishing darkness and loss. She kept me alive from a world apart. She waited for me for five years until I could come back to her. This woman is so incredible that she got me to do something I swore I would never do again because my fat wasting means sitting is unbearable: I got on an airplane and sat for 23 hours. I moved to the Midwest and I married the love of my life.

Donations will go towards living expenses and will assist in our ultimate goal, editing and publishing our book. Brit is a writer, and our relationship began in 2018 when we started a book about my survival story. I survived 18 stab wounds and a 100-foot fall off a cliff in 2009 after being randomly attacked while I was hiking Koko Crater in Honolulu. My attacker was acquitted due to temporary insanity and I’ve been fighting for victims rights ever since I survived the unsurvivable. There is no such thing as a donation too small. Sharing my story will make a significant impact. Every donation will help us start our new life together.

One thing I’ve learned in the last 16 years is this: if you have a story that can help others, don’t wait. Tell your story. Tomorrow is promised to no one. In the words of Isaac Asimov, “If my doctor told me I had only six minutes to live, I wouldn’t brood. I’d type a little faster.”

Thank you for your help!

Here’s a Newsweek article about my stabbing and recovery

https://www.newsweek.com/stabbed-18-times-top-mountain-killer-missed-heart-1845658