The struggles of former Mighty Ducks star Shaun Weiss (Greg Goldberg) have been well documented over the last few years. Now, he has at least one friend - Drew Gallagher - who wants to help him deal with his addiction issues.
Drew has recently set up a GoFundMe account in an attempt to raise $25,000 to get Shaun out of jail, off the streets and into a long-term treatment facility, before it's too late for the 41-year-old.
According to Gallagher, the loss of his parents sent Weiss into a deep and crippling depression, leading him into a downward spiral. Weiss began using drugs to escape his pain and, before long, he had lost everything and began sleeping on Gallagher's couch and, eventually the streets, where he is constantly beaten and robbed of his belongings.
Gallagher has spent approximately $15,000 of his own money attempting to help Weiss fight his addiction and mental health issues, but he is running out of ways to help on his own.
To date, he has raised over $7,000 from almost 250 generous donors, but he still has a long way to go to hit his goal of $25,000. Here's the bio Drew has provided on GoFundMe:
PLEASE HELP ME SAVE SHAUN WEISS
For the last 3 years I've been doing all I can to help Shaun. His loss of his parents sent him into a depression and so he turned to drugs. Before long Shaun was sleeping on my couch and eventually the streets where he is beaten up and has his belongings stolen almost nightly. I've been fighting to get him through detox, then rehab and a sober living facility but it is extremely expensive and usually there are long gaps in availability between each segment. I have bought him multiple vans to live in, one of them was even burnt to the ground by some local meth addicts trying to get even with Weiss. The system is as broken as Shauns mental state. He has his faculties and whit but mentally the street life has altered his perception of a normal life is and we need to get him psychiatric guidance. He is diabetic and needs serious ongoing medical attention including dental work as he now has little to no teeth left. He is on the brink of death as you can see by these photos and our countless ER visits this year alone.
I am working to get him out of jail on bail and/or the March Man Act but that's required resources and a detox and rehabilitation center lunges up and paid for. I've spent atleast 15k on medical attention and treatments for him over the last few years and it seems like the truly helpful LONG TERM facilities are remarkably expensive and seemingly impossible for him to get in.
Please help us. As soon as Shaun is better we can have him do signings and appearances to help assist in his recovery expenses.
Thank you in advance for your compassion/
DREW
You can find the GoFundMe page through the tweet provided below. It's important to remember that we are all human and if you've ever been in a situation and thought to yourself, "how did I get here?", then think of Shaun and donate what you can, or even share or retweet this story in hopes that together, we can all help a lost soul get his life back.
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