<div>I’m sharing Rick’s story because what this little boy and his mum, Vanessa, are fighting for is nothing short of extraordinary.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>When Rick was just 18 months old, Vanessa received the devastating news that no parent is ever prepared to hear. Rick was diagnosed with Infantile Tay-Sachs disease and they were told he may only have 2 to 4 years to live.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>But Rick is still here.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>This year, Rick turned 4 years old. And for the first time in a very long time, Vanessa is not only fighting for her son’s survival — she is witnessing hope, progress and precious moments she was once told would never be possible.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Earlier this year, Vanessa took Rick to Florence, Italy, where he completed his first cycle of REAC treatment at the Istituto Rinaldi Fontani. Since beginning treatment, Rick has made incredible progress that has completely changed his quality of life.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>For the first time in years, Vanessa is seeing improvement instead of decline.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Through daily physiotherapy and occupational therapy, Rick is becoming stronger, more responsive and more present. He is building stability in his body, learning to bear weight with support, spending meaningful time in his standing frame and breathing more comfortably as his swallowing improves.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>These milestones may seem small to some people, but for Vanessa and Rick, they are life-changing.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>The changes go far beyond physical progress.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Rick has now been seizure-free for months after previously suffering up to 60 seizures a day. His immune system has strengthened significantly, and after spending so much of his life in hospital, he has had zero hospital admissions in the past six months.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>For the first time in his life, Rick is more comfortable, more peaceful and more engaged with the world around him.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>And Vanessa sees it every day — in his eyes, his smiles and his strength.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>But this progress cannot stop now.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>To continue protecting and building on these incredible improvements, Rick urgently needs to return to Italy for two more REAC treatment cycles in July and October 2026.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>These next stages of treatment are essential to help strengthen the progress Rick has made, improve his comfort and quality of life, and potentially slow the progression of this devastating disease.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>For Vanessa, this journey has never been about chasing miracles or promises. It has been about giving her son more comfort, more dignity, more smiles and, most importantly, more time together.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>As a single mum, full-time carer and full-time worker, the emotional and financial weight Vanessa carries is unimaginable. The costs of international medical travel, treatment, accommodation, specialised care and ongoing support are simply beyond what she can manage alone.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>The family now needs to raise $140,000 AUD to make these next treatment cycles possible.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Funds raised will go directly towards Rick’s treatment, medical travel, flights, accommodation, specialised equipment and the daily care costs needed to support him throughout this journey.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>All funds raised will be withdrawn directly by Vanessa and used solely for Rick’s treatment and care.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>I know there are so many people who will read Rick’s story and feel inspired by the courage, resilience and hope this little boy carries every single day.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>If you can help in any way — through a donation, sharing this page or simply keeping Rick and Vanessa in your thoughts — it would mean more than words can express.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Thank you for standing beside Rick and Vanessa as they continue fighting for more time, more memories and more life together.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>

steven smith

Bikramjit Singh

Nacho Merino

Anonymous

Shingo Mori

Nicole Evangelou

Leigh Sedley

Jack Sanders

Simone Bezzan

Cheryl M. Andrew

Nermin Smajlovic

Ramiro Leal

Isavella Kanna

Umasha Rupasinghe

Nicole YIM

Parth Zalawadia

Jordan Anderson

Help Give Rick More Time, More Strength, More Life - Lee

platform

Platform is iOS

Android

Adyen Google Pay Development Audience

$opt_dummy_attribute

English only

Deprecate Stripe Legacy

dyn_template_ids

Adyen V6 Bene Transfer & MyMoney Campaign Organizers - test01

Bene transfer V6 and AdyenV6MyMoney Campaign Organizers - production

OneTrust next-app audience

fundCountryCode

NextDoor Share Option Users

Fundraisers with Reactions feature capability

fundCurrencyCode

US + Non-charity COs Only

locale

fund country is US and user language is English

personId

comms-internal-person-ids

Enhanced Story Experience Users

Suggested Goal Experience Users

user language is English and fund country: US, AU, DK, FI, IE, NO, SE, CA, GB; 

Poster share - new funds eligible (newest 9/18)

Streaming widgets beta user

paymentProcessor

3DS payment method

user language is English and fundCountry: US, AU, DK, FI, IE, NO, SE, CA, GB; 

currencyCode

Money Box Donation List Prompt Experiment Audience

GoFundMe Employees

ipAddress

Mark Rieth IP Address

Version 9.2.0 and above

Fund is in English speaking country

desktop

Android v12.11.0 and above

Platform is Android

paymentMethodType

checkoutType

Payment method type group to be vaulted on success

admin pr kit prod

EUR Donation Upsell

Share Text generation Skip Fundraiser

(prod) new funds eligible for amp12 (UGC gallery)

fintrac_cad_idv_form_v2 audience

paymentProcessorAccountId

fallback mode accounts

proCampaignId

p2p legacy startfundraising page

AMP24 New Funds Only PROD (DO NOT MODIFY)

countryCode

charityId

UKCharities

Federated Search Internal Testing

route.pathname community

US Donation Upsell audience 

Auto Thanks Feature Audience

Supporter Comments Eligible Funds

International Only

fundId

braze fundraiser group 

Payment Identity Transfers ATO Risk Check (Targeted) - Production

Fundraiser Saved Payment Method Rate Limit Bypass (Production)

leaderboard-partner-id-audience-givepanel

Eligible for Profile Comment Badge

Version 9.2.1 and above

AUD Donation Upsell audience

fundraiserCountryCode is US/EN

Active Fundraiser - Smart Default Cadence

DAF Internal

Vault on success card payment method

Platform is iOS v11.0.0 and above

Desktop users

Person ids

United States (US) users

allow yuno fundraisers for test

Mexico country code

Posters INTL

NPO Profile Opted-In

iOS at or above 12.4.0

non-US recurring donors

Canada Campaign Owner Group

Fundraiser Without Meta Link

Scheduler payment tester gorup

charityCommunityId

Charities allow to be claimed unclaimed (PRD)

Canada (CA) users

UC Tipping v20250115 International

pymk_production_xplr_fe_team

Android at or above 12.2.0

Profile photo entry point audience

smart goals (fundraiser/manage) on test01

Activity Tracking v1 Beta Testing

writePath

Stream Notification

start gfm intl allowed locales

Platform is iOS v11.2.0 and above

NPO upsell education category

unclaimed charities

prod_ach_audience

AI Chatbot Audience

amp13 only new funds (prod) (anyword auto)

UC Flow Enabled (Prod)

Payment Identity Beneficiary Verification - Production

shared notification bell audience

Custom users

ach frontend audience

Android v11.0.0 and above

Users Receiving Payments Paused Notifications

smart goals test01

Manage Coach - US English Organizers Only + new funds only

Team EGG - IP Address list

NPO recommendations prod

Fundraiser Without Instagram Deep Link

Native 11.4.0 and above

UC Tipping v20250107

ai_title_page

anyword

openai

control

manual_entry

userEmail

template_id

userId

fundUrl

isCharityCo

email

appVersion

shouldBucketIntoExperiment

partnerId

isEligibleForProfileCommentBadge

donationCadence

isActiveFundraiser

isPartner

isMobile

npoProfileOptIn

fundIsLinkedWithMeta

hasSessionDonation

categoryGroup

isCampaignOwner

fundHasInstagramDeepLink

Native 11.3.0 and above

Native 11.4.0 and higher

New funds eligible - Video Sharing (PROD)

GB Donation Upsell audience 

Auto Thanks V3 Rollout Audience

Thank you V3 testing whitelist

isRecurringFriendly

Is Recurring Friendly

Excluded funds - Video Sharing

NPO upsell animals category

NPO upsell disaster relief category

Logged In Users

CH Donation Upsell audience

Android v10.6.0 and above

NPO upsell essential needs category

NPO upsell medical category

userCurrencyCode

Localized Currency

NPO upsell cancer category

v11.5.0 and above

testAudience

pathname

Survicate

appVersion is at or above 12.8.0

Non-charity fund

isChallengeFundraiser

challenge-fundraisers

Payment Identity Launch Verification - Production

New funds eligible - Posters v2

CAD Donation Upsell Audience

Braze Email Tester

NPO Profile Opted-Out

iOS App Version

hasKnownDonors

PYMK has donors

iOS v12.3.0 and above

Help Give Rick More Time, More Strength, More Life - Lee

Still $74,109 to go. Help us build momentum.