We are happy to announce that Oscar Garcia, a San Francisco 49ers fan who doctors say has a very short amount of time left to live, has reached his fundraising goal of $15,000. The money will financially aid his family in paying for Oscar's funeral costs.
Oscar has been fundraising for his family on his GoFundMe page.
He goes by the handle "oscarug" within our forums and has been a member of this site since July of 2005. Oscar is fighting a battle with Sarcoma Cancer, a rare form of cancer that impacts about 10,000 people a year. He has been fighting this cancer since 2011 with multiple major surgeries and numerous aggressive treatments. He has now started hospice, which is end of life care. Doctors at UCSF, Kaiser, and UCLA are out of options and believe that he has only days, maybe a week, to live.
Since sharing his story with the 49erswebzone.com community, the Niner Faithful have joined together to help contribute to his cause and share his story online. Even fans from other teams, including the rival Seattle Seahawks, have contributed to Oscar, who is only 33 years old, in reaching his financial goal.
He hopes that his story will help spread more awareness of this cancer and help raise money for research against it. This type of cancer is so rare that, according to Oscar, almost no research is being done to combat it.
"I just want to thank everyone for all your donations and especially thank the 49erswebzone for all your love and support," says Oscar on his GoFundMe page. He added, "A few days ago i posted on a 49erswebzone forum about my story and linked my gofundme page. The next day i wake up in tears as my story gets on the front page. I have been going to this website for years and hardly ever posted anything but here they were united as fans helping me out spreading the word out on sarcoma awareness."
On Monday, his wife Heather informed fans within our forums that Oscar's health has deteriorated greatly. She added, "Last week Oscar was able to pick out a casket, a very nice one and he said without all of you it would not be possible. It was extremely hard to choose your own casket but he said 'I will be stylin'."
The Niner Faithful really came together for the fellow fan facing unbelievably difficult circumstances.
"I mentioned that God sends his angels to those in need. I really feel like God is looking down on me and smiling. I feel so loved. I cant stop smiling even with everything going on," says Oscar.
Oscar and his family will remain in our thoughts and prayers. In addition to his wife, he has two young children named Bradley and Morgan.
A big thank you to those in the media who helped us share Oscar's story, including Matt Maiocco, Matt Barrows, and Ryan Sakamoto.