COLUMBUS, Ohio — “I hate Ohio State football” is a common message in Tennessee this week, just days before a college football playoff.
However, some things are worth setting the rivalry aside.
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“To see them be so open to help us in our time of need has been really crazy,” said Japheth Willmore.
Willmore is a lifelong Ohio State fan who took to X with the news that his son Clark had recently been diagnosed with Sanfilippo Syndrome.
Most patients with the rare genetic disorder develop Dementia and die in their teen years.
“For the first day or so it just felt like we were in this thing that nobody knows that we’re in and nobody knows what we’re going through,” Willmore said.
Then, through the power of social media, a response from an unlikely friend, Tennessee Volunteer fan James Dean.
“There’s so much negativity around college sports especially on Twitter and stuff and I said, ‘Hey let’s see what we can do with this,’” Dean said.
What started as a fundraising effort to get Clark to the game turned into something bigger.
“People that had my Venmo and stuff from before had already donated almost $500 before I could even post anything and then it just took off and it grew and was like $1,000 an hour that was coming in,” Dean said.
Many college football fandoms joined together, raising nearly $20,000, which was more than enough to get the Willmores to the playoffs. But it was also enough to get Clark to an out-of-state specialist, one of few in the whole country for his condition. It’s care that wouldn’t be possible without fans’ help.
Clark’s mom, Chloe, said, “They originally say there is nothing we can do but if we can get him to these really well-known professionals in that field then hopefully there is something they can do.”
What started as a post trying to accept their new reality came an army to support them to keep pushing through.
“People are helping us out in the way that they have definitely given us hope in the last few days,” Willmore said.
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