Thousands donated to boy, 8, who sold his Pokémon cards to save his sick puppy
‘Bruce got sick and needed my help,’ Bryson Kliemann says
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Good Samaritans have donated thousands of dollars to an eight-year-old boy from a town in Virginia who tried to sell his prized pokemon card collection to save his dog’s life.
Bryson Kliemann hatched a plan to sell his cherished collection in May after he found out that his mixed labrador puppy, Bruce, had caught a contagious virus named parvo, WCYB reported.
The total bill for the disease, which ran past $500, was too expensive for Bryson’s parents to afford, spurring him to devise his own plan to save his furry friend.
“Our income is very limited,” Kimberly Woodruff, Bryson’s mother, told The Washington Post.“I really didn’t realize how expensive it could be until this happened.”
Despite his mother assuring the boy his family would find the money somehow, Bryson was eager to help and set his cards out on a table after school in a bid to raise the funds.
“Bruce got sick and needed my help,” Bryson told the newspaper. “I was super sad. I didn’t want to lose my best friend.”
Ms Woodruff said she shared the photo on a local Facebook group to help raise awareness of her son’s efforts and the post quickly went viral.
Following two afternoons of selling, Bryson had collected $400, and “a lot of people weren’t even buying them,” his mother said.
Many people just kindly made donations while others gave the eight-year-old more cards to add to his collection.
“He sold some cards, but before I could even notice a dent in his collection, people had already dropped off so many more,” Ms Woodruff said. “It was amazing.”
As her son’s efforts gained more traction, Ms Woodruff set up a GoFundMe page to raise $800 to help cover the vet fees. The page has now received more than $9,000 in donations.
WCYB also reported that Pokémon employees in Bellevue, Washington caught wind of Bryson’s heartwarming endeavour and sent him a bundle with rare collectible Pokémon cards.
The family raised enough money for the puppy to receive the treatment, Ms Woodruff said and now Bruce is “back to his puppy self”.
"He has more vaccine appointments, but he’s doing great, like amazing," Ms Woodruff told WCYB.
"I am super happy," Bryson told The Post.
Ms Woodruff explained that the excess money raised will help fund medical expenses for other families who can’t afford vet's fees.
She said she has already donated some of the money to a local animal shelter.
“I never in a million years would have thought something that my eight-year-old did in a small community would have such an impact,” she said. “It truly has been incredible.”
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments