My Dad, Richard, just took on the biggest battle of his life: cancer. And he won! But, now he gets to fight yet another battle, the battle of being able to afford getting sick in America.

A little background on my father's struggles: In October of 2010, he was sitting at a car wash in Temecula, California, when a vehicle lost control and plowed into a group of people. His leg was badly injured and he was in danger of bleeding out at the scene. My Dad told me he remembers getting to the hospital and the surgeon looking down at him and saying, "Richard, I'm going to do everything I can for you, but I can't promise you anything."

And the surgeon did. He saved his life, but had to amputate my fathers left leg. As he recovered and healed from this tragedy I was told countless stories of his strength, his determination, and his kindness towards the hospital staff and those around him.

The following September, less than a year after losing his leg, he competed in the Veteran's Paralympic Games and won a gold medal in his division for swimming and also hit the game winning RBI for his gold medal winning softball team.

Life wasn't easy, but my Dad was making it work. He fought and struggled through his rehab and was on the verge of another physical breakthrough when he was diagnosed with tongue cancer in December of 2014.

He put on a brave face and said he was ready to fight this battle too. However, in March the doctors inserted a feeding tube to help him get nutrients during chemotherapy and radiation. This tube became kinked and an infection developed.

The doctors performed emergency surgery and put my father into an induced coma to fight off sepsis. He was having trouble breathing so they performed a tracheotomy. What followed was a series of setbacks and breakthroughs, two steps forward, one step back.

Due to his condition, enhanced by his only having one leg, he was unable to leave the hospital and is still there today, 11 months later.

He did over 300 hours of chemotherapy and dozens of rounds of radiation, which this man who served his country during the Vietnam War told me was the scariest thing he had ever done in his life.

Today he is cancer free. He won. He is still in the hospital because there are no open beds at the VA hospital for him to rehab his body back into shape for him to move around on his own again.

Meanwhile, his insurance has lapsed. He is technically a ward of the State of California now, meaning his social security and disability checks are being seized by the state. He has zero income. His home is nearing foreclosure. I haven't seen a single medical bill, but I'm sure they are laughable at this point.

The goal of this campaign is to raise enough money to help with my dad's life after he gets out of the hospital and to help catch him up on every day bills he has accumulated.

My family and I are so greatful and overwhelmed by the kindness, the thoughts and prayers, and the concern so many of our friends have shown. I hope we can all help fight this financial battle with my father because he has fought enough.

Please consider donating and helping Richard live, because that's what he gets to do now. Live.