Hi Everybody,

I’ve started a GoFundMe for my very close friend, Kyle Petit.

If we haven't met, my name is Vinny Haddad. Kyle and I grew up together. We went to the same middle school & high school.

Anyway, Kyle currently resides in Danang, Vietnam. About a week ago he broke his tibia & fibula during a soccer game collision while playing as a goalie (warning: graphic photo in pics). His surgery luckily was a success, but he has taken unpaid time off of work and now has significant medical expenses to pay off as well. This is after a string of very difficult challenges in recent years but he shows continual perseverance & resilience.

For those who don’t know Kyle well, he’s an extremely inspiring individual. He booked a one way flight to China when he was 23. He quickly changed course on the way there due to flight complications and ended up in Vietnam instead (quite the pivot). He taught English there for a couple years before eventually doing the same in Saudi Arabia & Japan. After more world traveling, he made his way back to Vietnam and walked (yes, WALKED) the entire length of the country from the southern most point of Cà Mau to the northern most point of Hà Giang.

Shortly after walking those 1400 miles, one excruciating life-changing challenge after another came his way and he faced them all head on. Now he’s got another one on his plate to brighten his holidays (joke). Personally, I’d like to see him get a bit of a reprieve in the form of financial support.

He’s full of courage, grit, adaptability, and, ironically, humility. You’ll never hear him overtly brag about anything I’ve mentioned thus far. He didn’t even want this GoFundMe to get started, but with some nudging & convincing he eventually yielded and decided to see what it might bring. Hopefully this can (at the very least) cover his medical expenses and maybe even reimburse the pay he’s missed from work.

I mention all of this because not only is Kyle a close friend of mine, he’s also the reason why almost a dozen people ended up moving to Vietnam for a significant amount of time and had one of the most important & transformational experiences of their lives. He took a chance by moving to a foreign country on his own at 23 years old which started a chain reaction of many different individuals following his lead and it shaped each one of them for the better.

With all that being said, if you feel compelled to help, sharing this post and/or contributing any amount of financial support would be extremely appreciated as it would be facilitating the revival of one of the most valiant, intelligent, curious, & perceptive human beings I’ve had the pleasure of knowing.

Thank you for taking to the time to read this.

Much love & happy holidays to you all!!!