SEATTLE NEWS ARCHIVES & FEATURES
Ron and Don have your back: Seattle comes out in support of police vet
Mar 9, 2016, 5:34 PM | Updated: Mar 10, 2016, 9:47 am
Dave and Pam Clement visit Ron and Don in the KIRO Radio studio. (Nicholas Jarin/KIRO Radio)
(Nicholas Jarin/KIRO Radio)
The City of Seattle denied him. So KIRO Radio’s Ron and Don stepped in.
Former Seattle Police Detective Dave Clement, a 26-year veteran of the force, was diagnosed with a debilitating disease — Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyneuropathy. CIPD is an autoimmune disease that attacks nerve cells, causing paralysis. Luckily for him, a procedure has gained popularity and has cured 80 percent of others with CIPD. His insurer, the City of Seattle, however, wouldn’t pay for the procedure.
Related: Claim denied: SPD vet’s insurance fight for lifesaving transplant
Two days after Ron and Don aired his story, hyping a GoFundMe page to support Clement, he exceeded his $145,000 goal. In fact, when Dave and his wife Pam visited Ron and Don in the studio on Wednesday, people were still giving. People have raised more than $171,000.
Dave and Pam have read messages that have accompanied the more than 1,800 donations.
“It felt like we were right in the room with them and they were friends. Some messages were heartbreaking: ‘This is for my dad who passed,'” Dave said. “One woman said their family member died on Feb. 29 of this year and they were giving money a few days later in their name.”
“It’s amazing to see strangers who don’t know us … And people who just want to support the City of Seattle cops, back us up with their unemployment check or last IRS check or their kids’ piggy bank,” Pam added. “We are overwhelmed with the goodness of humanity.”
Pam noted that she was contacted by Delta Airlines, which is now providing free trips to and from Chicago; where Dave’s procedure will take place.
“After you have your stem cells harvested, they hit you with three bouts of chemotherapy,” Dave said. “Once your immune system is dead, they throw your stem cells back in you, and your immune system grows back.”
It’s intense, but Dave is ready.
“At this point, it’s like bring it on,” he said. “I want it.”
Dave Clement’s GoFundMe page is still active and accepting donations here.
