Those things we do, so others may live...

My name is Ryan, and I have a friend, Mike, who has ALS. A particularly aggressive version of it. Because of how aggressive it is, he was one of the first people to get approved for Neuralink.

Mike doesn't deserve this. As much as he is going through, he never makes himself the center of the conversation. He asks how you are doing. Everything has been taken from him, and he is not in a good place—mentally, financially, physically, or emotionally. Although you'd never know it, as that is the type of man he is.

We met online. Battlefield 4 on Xbox, to be exact. Gaming friends. Countless hours of destroying virtual cities and enemies online. He was always my gunner in a tank, helicopter, or ground pounding on Operation Locker.

These days, he is happy to be in Discord to watch his old buddies do what we always did.

Imagine struggling with the weight of that. Feeling like you are a liability financially. Needing physical assistance. Not being able to do things that we take for granted.

My hope is that the financial burdens are erased with this. I can't make ALS go away. I can't make his day-to-day struggles of mental, emotional, and physical problems go away. But hopefully, he can find peace in knowing that the financial burden is no longer hanging over his head.

He's ready to give life up, people. Not an understatement. It breaks my heart knowing he is beginning to think that not being around on this planet is best for his family. Maybe money doesn't change that outcome. But I'll be damned if I don't do everything in my power to give him a hope at life.

Life is precious. Mike has an incredible soul, and the world needs him around for another sunset. And then another. The man has never asked for anything and doesn't even know I've set this up. I hope and pray these efforts aren't too late.