A story about a terrifying climbing accident evolving into an instance of social media for good

Within one nanosecond a life can change forever. Derek Markham, also known as Natural Papa to his web audience, learned this the hard way. On January 15, 2010, Derek fell during a horrifying climbing accident leaving him with broken bones and an exorbitant hospital bill.

While Derek's life almost had an unfortunate ending, this story, his story has a positive one. While recovering, Derek posted an account of his accident to his blog and shared with his followers the impact it left on him and his family who do not have health insurance. Within days, green community leaders from around the web, like The Good Human and Twilight Earth, stepped up to help support Derek both mentally and financially. By February 1st, a formal social media campaign had begun to help raise money for Derek's medical bills, Save the Derek Fundraiser. In a little over a week, hundreds of tweets poured in, more than a thousand people clicked through and more than a hundred people, many of whom had never even met Derek, ended up donating more than $1,800.

Knowing Derek through his blog and Twitter feed where he continuously spreads the Greenopolis love, and contributes great recipes and parenting tips, we at Greenopolis were moved by his plight and will be donating $500 to the cause. You can also donate to the fund by clicking here.

So how's Derek doing now? Just a couple of weeks since the accident and Derek is still in a cast and awaiting the a-okay from the doctor to begin physical therapy. It will be a long slow recovery for Derek, but most importantly there will be a recovery. Having had the opportunity to [virtually] speak with Derek, it is clear that he is extremely grateful to those who have contributed to the campaign be it with a cash donation or a tweet. He said it best himself, "It’s been a testament to the power and reach of social media, and I feel honored to have such a great virtual community that would be willing to ‘get my back’ when I am in need."

Get well soon, Derek!

Greenopolis.com is dedicated to our users. We focus our attention on changing the world through recycling, waste-to-energy and conservation. We reward our users for their sustainable behaviors on our website, through our Greenopolis Tracking Stations and with curbside recycling programs.

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