Terminally Ill 6-Year-Old Raises $2 Million With Viral Nail-Painting Campaign

A 6-year-old named Tjin in the Netherlands has raised more than $2 million in just a few days. How? By painting people’s nails.

Tjin suffers from a rare form of brain cancer. He has less than a year to live and wants to use the time he has left to help other children. His father took him to an annual charity event called Serious Request, hosted by 3FM, a public radio station, where they pleaded their case.

Every year, Serious Request gives voice to little-known issues and causes impacting the world. Tjin and his family chose childhood pneumonia as their cause, and in only a few days, rallied the Netherlands and the rest of the world behind them.

Here’s how it works: Those who paint their nails should donate 1 euro. Those who don’t should donate 10 euros. Once your nails are painted, you take a photo for social media and post it with hashtags #lakaan, which translates to “paint on,” and #SR16.

Several celebs in the Netherlands have already answered the call, including Geert Wilders, a leader in the Dutch Parliament and DJ-producer Hardwell:

“Most of the poor kids infected with pneumonia don’t even live to be 5 years old. That is why we’re standing up to fight,” says Tjin’s father. According to the United Nations, 922,000 children under the age of 5 died from pneumonia last year.

Tjin’s original goal was 100 euros, and as of this writing, he had raised 2,371,843.

To get involved, you can make a donation from outside the Netherlands here.

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