'Success Kid's' Dad Needs a Kidney Transplant

The determined little toddler whose image went viral a few years back courtesy of a meme featuring his balled up fist and game face now needs a little help himself.

Known to millions as “Success Kid,” Sam Griner is now 8 and he’s facing the loss of his dad, according to WTSP. Sam’s dad, Justin, 39, is in need of a kidney transplant, a donor and the funding to help pay for the potentially life-saving surgery and aftercare, according to a gofundme campaign set up on the Jacksonville family’s behalf.

”Please help us reach our goal so that Justin may get the pre-treatments and transplant he desperately needs,” Laney Griner, Sam’s mother, wrote on the campaign page. “His mother died from this disease, please help us write a different story for Justin and his son, Sam.”

Sam was catapulted into the Internet spotlight back in 2007 when a picture taken of him at 11 months of age was set in a blue pinwheel background. The boy’s image has since graced a number of memes that continue to circulate online. The image earned Sam the nickname “Success Kid.”

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Laney Griner’s campaign to help her husband was launched April 8 and has already exceeded its goal of $75,000. Even so, donations for the family whose son has put smiles on so many faces keep pouring in.

In addition to funding, the campaign is also reaching out to potential kidney donors. Those interested in seeing if they’re a match for Justin can fill out an online form from the Mayo Clinic.

Justin was diagnosed with kidney disease in 2006 and went into kidney failure in 2009, Action News Jax reported. He’s been on dialysis ever since. While the family has some help with treatments from Medicare, the expenses related to additional treatments are too much to handle, the station reported.

Anti-rejection drugs and other related medications, for example, can cost thousands a month, Laney was quoted by the station as saying.

“Medicare pays for the first three months and that’s it,” she said.

To find out more about helping the family, visit their gofundme page.

Screenshots of “Success Kid” Sam Griner at 11 months and now with his family at age 8.

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