On Christmas Eve, Siqi Chen, the CEO of a tech company, shared a deeply personal and emotional update on his social media, revealing the difficult journey he and his family are currently facing. In a heartfelt post, Chen shared that his daughter, Mira, was diagnosed with a rare and challenging brain tumor called craniopharyngioma on September 23rd.
Despite the lack of a definitive cure for this condition, Chen and his team of researchers have been working tirelessly to support Dr. Hankinson’s lab in identifying promising new drugs to treat Mira’s tumor. Chen’s Christmas Eve post was a plea for help, asking his followers to support Dr. Hankinson’s groundbreaking research. “If not with funds, I would be just as grateful for a repost or a like on this thread,” he wrote.
if you could press a button that cures your child’s brain tumor in exchange for ending your life immediately, every parent would hesitate for zero seconds before fighting to be the first to press it
the cruelest thing is that no such button exists.
but there is always a move 👇 pic.twitter.com/mlAbmeOpvx
— Siqi Chen (@blader) December 25, 2024
In a remarkable turn of events, just three hours after his post, Siqi shared that the campaign had already raised $75,000, nearing the goal of $100,000. Overwhelmed by the outpouring of support, Chen expressed his gratitude, writing, “Yi and I are in tears. We are so grateful to all of you.”
To further encourage donations, Siqi and his family decided to personally match every dollar raised beyond the $75K mark, up to a total of $100,000. This means that if the campaign reaches $200,000, Hankinson Lab will receive at least $300,000, which could be a game changer for research into craniopharyngiomas.
going to take the family out for christmas dinner hope this is worth at least $1.80 when i get back pic.twitter.com/41rp8D2jig
— Siqi Chen (@blader) December 26, 2024
However, the fundraising efforts took an unexpected twist. In a follow-up post, Chen revealed that a generous supporter had created a memecoin called $MIRA to help with fundraising. The individual, a random stranger, sent half of the total supply of $MIRA to Chen, and within 20 minutes, the memecoin was valued at an astounding $400,000. As of now, Siqi has successfully raised more than $18 million for Dr. Hankinson’s research efforts, with contributions pouring in from across the globe.
He expressed his deep gratitude for the community’s support and continued to encourage donations and shares, hoping that every little bit would bring them closer to finding a cure.
