Matt Diaz has raised over $50,000 (and counting) for surgery to remove his excess skin following his dramatic weight loss, losing 270lbs over the course of the last six years.
Matt made the brave decision to reveal the downside to his weight loss on YouTube, highlighting the sagging skin that now covers his torso. In the video, an emotional Matt revealed that after doing some research into surgery that can help remove the excess skin, he discovered that it would rack up a bill of around $20,000. After setting up a crowdfunding campaign in order to raise the money, Matt’s $20,000 goal was swiftly reached, with more money continuing to pile in from well-wishers with 4 days of the campaign still left to go.
Matt Diaz, before and after his weight loss.
With his goal having now been reached, Matthas thanked those who have supported him and claimed that the extra money he receives will be put back into the community that supported him. Diaz wrote: “Aside from the medical costs, and a little I’ll be holding onto just so my bills don’t bury me while I can’t work… Depending on how much is left, I’ll be donating parts of the money to other health, body image and weight related donation pages as well as highlighting them on a blog so the thousands of people who are reading me currently will be more likely to donate.”
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Matt estimated that the chest, stomach and arm work that he will need to fix his excess skin would cost $20,000, though he has conceded that it may cost more or less depending upon the surgeon. “I’m currently working with a team to find and acquire a great cosmetic surgeon in NY,” Matt said. “That’s where I live, and if I’m getting invasive surgery I can’t leave NY, because I’ll obviously be confined to a bed for an extended period of time and family will be looking over me.”
You can watch Matt’s video, which has racked up over 2 million views since he posted it online last week, below:
