Saving Eliza is the name for both a campaign, and associated three minute video, focused on saving the life of Eliza O'Neill. Eliza, then a 3-year-old living in
Columbia, South Carolina
Columbia is the List of capitals in the United States, capital of the U.S. state of South Carolina. With a population of 136,632 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is List of municipalities in South Carolina, the second-largest ...
, was diagnosed in 2013 with
Sanfillipo syndrome – a terminal, rapidly degenerative disease in children. The O'Neill family is working to raise the money needed to fund a clinical trial which could save the lives of Eliza and other children with the disease. Their efforts are part of a trend, by concerned private citizens, to raise money for research and drug trials regarding
rare disease
A rare disease is any disease that affects a small percentage of the population. In some parts of the world, an orphan disease is a rare disease whose rarity means there is a lack of a market large enough to gain support and resources for discov ...
s, which might otherwise be under-addressed by pharmaceutical companies.
The O'Neills had found that researchers at
Nationwide Children's Hospital
Nationwide Children's Hospital (formerly Columbus Children's Hospital) is a nationally ranked pediatric acute care teaching hospital located in the Southern Orchards neighborhood of Columbus, Ohio. The hospital has 673 pediatric beds and is affil ...
, in
Columbus, Ohio, had found a gene therapy that worked on mice, but they would need an additional $2.5 million to start clinical trials humans.
The O'Neills established the non-profit ''Cure Sanfilippo Foundation'' to advocate for and fund research towards the cure for children. The campaign was launched in October 2013.
After raising only $250,000 in the first half year, they expanded their efforts with the addition of the video in July 2014.
[
The original Saving Eliza campaign was channeled through the ]GoFundMe
GoFundMe is an American for-profit crowdfunding platform that allows people to raise money for events ranging from life events such as celebrations and graduations to challenging circumstances like accidents and illnesses. From 2010 to the be ...
web platform in October 2013.[ By 2016, after the video went viral, the GoFundMe campaign surpassed its original goal of $2 million – a new record, at that time, as the most money ever raised for a single GoFundMe campaign.]
References
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Charity fundraisers