Help Ron Whitaker's Family: Funeral & Health Costs

UPDATE: Last night/this morning (Sep 8/9) we lost Ron. Please see the most recent update. His family is now facing funeral costs on top of health care costs, so please share this campaign and help as much as you can. Thank you all for caring about Ron and his family.

Ron Whitaker is a father, a husband, a son, an Elk, a gamer, a journalist, a writer, and an all around wonderful human being. I am blessed to know him and call him my friend. 

My wife has known Ron since they attended Governors Scholars Program camp together when they were seniors in high school. I've known him since a total happenstance meeting at PAX East 7 years ago. Many of you reading this likely know Ron through his work with the Elks, his career in games journalism, or one of many other countless ways Ron collected friends with his big laugh and his kind heart.

Ron and his family need our help. Usually, it is Ron helping others - either through his tireless charitable efforts or just helping friends and family in any way possible.

2 years ago, within the span of a few days, Ron lost his father to cancer, his job to industry contraction, and learned he had Leukemia. He fought it hard. Through grueling chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant, Ron fought to get his life back and for a time the Leukemia was gone. 

Unfortunately, it came back. Ron recently underwent his second treatment and transplant, and things have not gone as well this time. Friday, August 30, he was moved to ICU and had trouble with his kidneys, pneumonia, and a yeast infection in his blood. He currently has a breathing tube, a feeding tube, and they have kidney dialysis going. 

Ron and his family need our help. As you can imagine, the costs of this are tremendous. If we can help reduce one area of stress and worry from Ron, his wife Anita, and their family, that would be a great way to  help them fight this and get better.

Please share this as far and wide as possible, and if you can chip in a bit to help, I know Ron and Anita would appreciate it tremendously. Ron and his family would never ask for this kind of help, but that's just another reason why helping them is so important.