Help Sid Restart A Productive Life

I am very sad to say that this fundraiser has been deactivated for donations because my friend Sid Sharma died very unexpectedly on March 5, 2026. His body was found the next day by another friend who has also been helping Sid.

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Original message:

For over 30 years, my friend Sid Sharma has faced far more than his share of medical and financial challenges. During those years, these obstacles made it very hard at times for Sid to take care of and support himself. The perplexing thing that is also true is that Sid has great gifts, and he very much wants to use those gifts to earn his own way and to contribute to the community around him. In order for Sid to get the chance to do this, he needs some financial help to sustain him while he recovers from the latest round of medical problems. That’s why I want to tell you Sid’s story and to explain how you can help him.

My name is Bill Cavnar, and I am a long-time friend of Sid’s. 20 years ago, we became friends because we were both cancer survivors, and we were both interested in writing. In the years since that first meeting, I have watched Sid face repeated medical and financial problems with surprising levels of intelligence, creativity, courage, and stoic resolve. He is now once again trying to get back on his feet after a serious medical crisis, and I want him to have a real chance to get past these problems and show what he can do with those qualities. So I and a small group of other friends who likewise share these same hopes and concerns for Sid have teamed up to give him that chance.

Sid’s Current Situation

Sid is a middle-aged single man living in Ypsilanti, Michigan. He has no living immediate family, no regular income, and very limited financial resources. His real challenge is a long list of medical problems that currently limit both his mobility, strength, and large motor control. Although he is now making steady progress in his physical recovery, his current limitations make it hard for him to support himself financially or even to do some everyday tasks.

Nonetheless, Sid's doctors indicate that he has good prospects of improving sufficiently to return to a self-sufficient and productive lifestyle. In addition, inexpensive modern computer and communications technology now makes it easier than ever for someone to make a living in the face of such problems.

What We Are Asking For – A Couple of Lattes Per Month

The small group of Sid’s friends mentioned above has been working to find a way to help him stay on the path to self-sufficiency. We were able to assemble enough funds to get him into a workable living situation, but we will not be able to sustain this for much longer by ourselves. Sid’s monthly expenses are approximately $2000, which covers his apartment, food, utilities, and a few small miscellaneous expenses. Our plan is to invite our relatives, colleagues, acquaintances, and others who are sympathetic to Sid’s situation to make small recurring monthly donations to this GoFundMe campaign.

Here is the key idea: We want to invite people to give up occasional small luxuries and instead divert the saved money to a fund for Sid’s needs. Consider this: A typical latte at Starbuck’s costs about $6.00 with sales tax. If there were 167 people willing to forego 2 lattes a month for Sid, that would yield 167 x $12 = $2004. Small donations really can make a big difference when you aggregate them. Even one latte’s worth of donation can help (and of course it can be something other than lattes). Larger donations are also fantastic, and will help us more quickly reach our goal.

It is difficult to say exactly how long Sid’s recovery will take. We suspect that it will take at least six months, but we are reasonably confident that within two years he will back to self-sufficiency. We will be providing you regular updates as to Sid’s progress.

Sid’s Medical History – How Did This Happen

You may be wondering how Sid’s unfortunate situation came about. His medical history is long and complicated, and it is not an enjoyable story to hear. If you do not want to know the details, then skip ahead to the next section.

When Sid came to the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor over 35 years ago, he was aiming toward a career in law. His undergraduate years were very successful, and he had an outstanding academic record, an active social life, and even a significant athletic career as a long-distance runner. All of that came to an abrupt halt 31 years ago when he developed an aggressive, usually-inoperable brain cancer called glioblastoma multiforme . At the time of Sid’s diagnosis, this kind of cancer was almost always fatal, and patients typically did not last very long. However, Sid was able to benefit from an experimental therapy developed at the UM medical center. Remarkably, this treatment halted the cancer, returning Sid to active life. However, some 6 months later, his life was again interrupted by a severe seizure. Tests and x-rays showed that the seizure was caused by the unexpected growth of a second inoperable, but non-cancerous, tumor on the pituitary gland in his brain.

This time, Sid’s problems could not be easily corrected. Rather, his medical condition worsened, and his ability to support himself financially evaporated. With no family, and no income, it only took a short number of months to put him at risk of becoming homeless. Fortunately, an older retired couple that he knew offered him free room and board in their home. In turn, he was able to help them with occasional household tasks that he could manage, such as cooking, and he also could provide them some companionship as well as other kinds of light-weight tasks. This arrangement continued until fall of 2024.

Sid had an additional form of support through the University of Michigan, which has continued to provide for his medical care for all of these years through an insurance program directed to medically needy low-income people. During the last number of years, a string of additional medical problems has further afflicted Sid, including strokes, heart attacks, more seizures, diabetes, and cataracts. Like all of his other medical problems, these additional conditions were triggered by damage to his endocrine system caused by the tumors in his brain. He very likely would have died without UM’s high-quality medical care.

Between all of these episodes of sickness and recovery, Sid attempted to do some work, particularly taking on various writing and editing tasks as he was able. For example, he edited manuscripts for graduate students at UM. On the other hand, he also had several prolonged periods of hospitalization with associated rehabilitation and recovery. Each time he ended up in a hospital or treatment facility, he would then fight to regain his strength and rehabilitate himself.

Finally, in the fall of 2024, the older couple who had been housing him were no longer able to continue providing his room and board. They themselves were now needing some care, and their children wanted to move their parents out of Michigan, and sell their house. Again, this situation would have left Sid homeless.

However, the small group of Sid’s friends mentioned above orchestrated a plan to move him to a subsidized low-income apartment facility for people with special needs in an Ypsilanti, Michigan. These friends have continued to provide practical and financial support for Sid.

The most recent medical crisis came to a head early in 2025. Sid had suffered for a while from significant circulation problems in his legs. Unfortunately, from November 2024 through January 2025, these problems resulted in several skin infections on his feet and legs. These further sapped his strength. He also had a series of bad falls in his apartment, the last of which put him into the hospital. It was then that Sid’s doctors discovered that the skin infections had spread throughout his whole body. The doctor’s put him on a course of powerful antibiotics just in time to save his life. It took some weeks, but eventually the antibiotics cleared up the infections. Unfortunately, the doctors still had to remove one of the toes on his right foot because that tissue was past saving. They also did further surgery on his right foot to improve blood flow to deter additional problems.

Currently, Sid suffers from weakness on his left side because of a stroke. He also is limited in his ability to use his right leg because of the surgeries on his right foot. Finally, the seizures and strokes have also impaired his balance. The result is that Sid must use a walker to move around. In addition, he is at risk of falls, although this risk is declining as he regains his strength. He is determined to rebuild this strength, and to continue working at learning how to move safely with his walker, and especially to work out practical strategies for living within the limitations he currently has.

What Sid Is Aiming For, And How To Help Him Get There

Sid is one of the most persistent people I know. He is not giving up, and he is firmly committed to finding a path forward to self-sufficiency that can work for him. He has definite plans and goals for different kinds of writing projects, such as a well-developed idea for a novel. He also wants to provide various writing-based services, such as editing manuscripts as he did before, and doing contract research projects. Doubtless he will continue to come up with other ideas.

If these goals resonate with you, or you just want to help a guy who deserves some extra help, then please consider making a recurring contribution to Sid’s GoFundMe campaign. Click on one of the Donate buttons on this page, and follow the instructions to select the kind of donation you want to make. Remember: a one-time gift is great, but a smaller donation that repeats monthly can be even more helpful over the long haul. Thanks for taking the time to read and consider this request!