Turk'sScuba Diving BucketList Fund
Donation protected
Hello,
My name is Turk and I am 44 years old and was diagnosed with Idiopathic Multlicentric Castleman's Disease in March of 2016. When I was diagnosed it was not looking very good for me as they did not think I would make it to see my birthday in October.
Thankfully that was not the case because on 16 October I turned 44. At the present time I am going through a clinical trial to hopefully put me into remission.
I am a veteran of the U.S. Navy; which I joined so that I could see the world. Now that there is a very real chance that I may not survive or that my lifespan could be drastically shortened, I feel there has never been a better time than now to chase down my dreams and live out what essentially could be my last days doing something I love in a place that I love.
I have put off starting one of these as I am terrible at asking for help and to me this feels like begging but when push comes to shove you listen to your friends and closest confidants. So here I am asking for money due to the fact that my medical expenses are taking up all the money I make with me sitting at about $92,000 in unpaid medical bills. Yes the money could go to help pay off those bills. That or I could finally pull the trigger and go do what I have dreamt of since I was a little one.
It is sad that it took a life-threatening rare disease to make me see this but it is time to live out my life the way I have dreamt of it since I was a child rather than working my ass off to make ends meet only to die at my desk.
However I digress. Let me tell you why I need $17,500, what that money will allow me to accomplish and in the end what it would mean to me.
My dream has been to travel to small tropical islands, explore the culture and live as simple of a life as possible. As I have been fighting this disease, the doctors have told me stress is a major deterrent to healing and that they feel I am under entirely too much stress.
The other part of this dream is to learn to scuba dive. Now where do I want to go is something you may be asking yourself? Orignally the dream was to travel to Utila, Honduras (a small island in the Bay Islands chain) as it is the cheapest place to get your instructor certification but that has changed as you will read below and in updates.
I want to start by getting my Open Water Scuba Dive certification as well as my Advanced Open Water here locally. Once I have that and my passport I will travel to the UAE. This change came about due to a person I met on a Scuba site I frequent. He saw my GoFundMe and wanted to help. So rather than spend about $43,000 to gety certified, I can do the entire thing for less than $20
,000.00. He can take me as far as Divemaster and the next step would be instructor.
He has dive shops that may be willing to work out a program specifically for me to help brting down the cost. Once I am fully certified and have worked as an instructor for a time period I have not yet determined, I will then begin looking for work in the places I orginally wanted to train to teach Scuba to new people in amazing locations.
I have always had a love for the water and the ocean in particular. Your donations will allow me to pay for my scuba courses, food and some travel expenses. I have planned the trip to be as cheap as possible with the majority of the funds I am asking for going towards classes, gear and health expenses.
The total "dream fund" actually comes out to $49,738.00 but I can begin to live out my dream with the bare minimum of $17,500.00 am asking for asd long as I go to the UAE to train.
I recently finished my meditation teachers course so that while traveling I will also be able to teach mindfulness meditation to those I encounter on this dream journey.
I have been fighting this and have been pretty flip about it until now. I see the future and isn't looking that bright which is why I have chosen to ask for help. Depression has taken a hold of me and I feel helpless over it.
If I reach my goal I will be reserving my spots for the courses and as I travel (when I can find a good internet connection) I will post pictures and updates as to how I am doing so you can share in my lifelong dream that you have helped me to achieve. I can promise that I will be all smiles and if you know me at all, you know I will have some crazy adventures and meet some of the most colorful people on the planet.
Thank you in advance for helping to make my dream come true.
My name is Turk and I am 44 years old and was diagnosed with Idiopathic Multlicentric Castleman's Disease in March of 2016. When I was diagnosed it was not looking very good for me as they did not think I would make it to see my birthday in October.
Thankfully that was not the case because on 16 October I turned 44. At the present time I am going through a clinical trial to hopefully put me into remission.
I am a veteran of the U.S. Navy; which I joined so that I could see the world. Now that there is a very real chance that I may not survive or that my lifespan could be drastically shortened, I feel there has never been a better time than now to chase down my dreams and live out what essentially could be my last days doing something I love in a place that I love.
I have put off starting one of these as I am terrible at asking for help and to me this feels like begging but when push comes to shove you listen to your friends and closest confidants. So here I am asking for money due to the fact that my medical expenses are taking up all the money I make with me sitting at about $92,000 in unpaid medical bills. Yes the money could go to help pay off those bills. That or I could finally pull the trigger and go do what I have dreamt of since I was a little one.
It is sad that it took a life-threatening rare disease to make me see this but it is time to live out my life the way I have dreamt of it since I was a child rather than working my ass off to make ends meet only to die at my desk.
However I digress. Let me tell you why I need $17,500, what that money will allow me to accomplish and in the end what it would mean to me.
My dream has been to travel to small tropical islands, explore the culture and live as simple of a life as possible. As I have been fighting this disease, the doctors have told me stress is a major deterrent to healing and that they feel I am under entirely too much stress.
The other part of this dream is to learn to scuba dive. Now where do I want to go is something you may be asking yourself? Orignally the dream was to travel to Utila, Honduras (a small island in the Bay Islands chain) as it is the cheapest place to get your instructor certification but that has changed as you will read below and in updates.
I want to start by getting my Open Water Scuba Dive certification as well as my Advanced Open Water here locally. Once I have that and my passport I will travel to the UAE. This change came about due to a person I met on a Scuba site I frequent. He saw my GoFundMe and wanted to help. So rather than spend about $43,000 to gety certified, I can do the entire thing for less than $20
,000.00. He can take me as far as Divemaster and the next step would be instructor.
He has dive shops that may be willing to work out a program specifically for me to help brting down the cost. Once I am fully certified and have worked as an instructor for a time period I have not yet determined, I will then begin looking for work in the places I orginally wanted to train to teach Scuba to new people in amazing locations.
I have always had a love for the water and the ocean in particular. Your donations will allow me to pay for my scuba courses, food and some travel expenses. I have planned the trip to be as cheap as possible with the majority of the funds I am asking for going towards classes, gear and health expenses.
The total "dream fund" actually comes out to $49,738.00 but I can begin to live out my dream with the bare minimum of $17,500.00 am asking for asd long as I go to the UAE to train.
I recently finished my meditation teachers course so that while traveling I will also be able to teach mindfulness meditation to those I encounter on this dream journey.
I have been fighting this and have been pretty flip about it until now. I see the future and isn't looking that bright which is why I have chosen to ask for help. Depression has taken a hold of me and I feel helpless over it.
If I reach my goal I will be reserving my spots for the courses and as I travel (when I can find a good internet connection) I will post pictures and updates as to how I am doing so you can share in my lifelong dream that you have helped me to achieve. I can promise that I will be all smiles and if you know me at all, you know I will have some crazy adventures and meet some of the most colorful people on the planet.
Thank you in advance for helping to make my dream come true.
Organizer
Turk Diggler
Organizer
Huntington Beach, CA
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