The internet just helped ‘Success Kid’ raise money for his dad’s kidney transplant

Justin Griner, father of the child who shot to internet fame as the “Success Kid” meme, has raised nearly $100,000 through a crowdfunding campaign to pay for a kidney transplant. Griner, 39, became ill in 2006 and suffered full kidney failure in 2009, forcing him to go on dialysis. The family set up a GoFundMe campaign last week to raise money for a transplant, and has already surpassed its original goal of $75,000.

Sam Griner, whose triumphant, beachside fist-pump went viral in 2007, is now eight years old. His mother, Laney, set up the GoFundMe page for her husband to help cover the expensive treatments that Medicare covers for only a limited time. In an interview with The Daily Dot this week, she said a kidney transplant would be the only way to save her husband’s life, noting that his mother died from the same disease. “We’re the parents of ‘Success Kid’ for goodness sake,” Laney Griner said. “If anyone understands the power, the mass, and goodwill of the internet, it’s those of us lucky to experience it daily.”