A group of Dungeons & Dragons players are rolling a save in real life.
When Daniel Somerville underwent surgery for a brain tumor, he did not have medical insurance. Once his friends and fellow gamers learned that the bill for the surgery totaled $450,000, they knew that it would take more than a wizard’s spell to remedy the situation.
They turned to social news site Reddit to spread the word. “I have so much hope for him as an artist, wrote Droidaphone on Reddit, where he posted a link to an Imgur slideshow of Somerville’s tribute art for Dungeons & Dragons. “[H]e’s the most talented friend I have, and it terrifies me to think what could happen to him.”
In turn, the group turned to and crowdfunding platform Indiegogo for financial help.
“Given the number of well known crowdfunding projects, both for business and non-business causes, it seemed like an obvious thing to try,” Somerville’s friend, Tyrus Peace, told GamesBeat. “There were varying ideas on how to implement the thing, but we’ve tried to keep it scalable while also featuring Daniel’s art in both the campaign and its rewards.”
With 38 days left in the flexible funding campaign, the group has nearly doubled its of $5,000, raising $9,226 for their beloved Dungeon master.
According to a post on Somerville’s DeviantAart account, he has since returned home and is in recovery from the surgery.
Photo via Help Daniel/IndieGoGo