As the clock ticks down to 2018, a group of Massachusetts students is closing in on their goal to help a classmate with a very rare and fatal disease.
Students from across the North Shore started a social media storm earlier this month to help 12-year-old Ipswich resident Talia Duff, who suffers from CMT4J, a progressive neurological disorder that can be similar to ALS.
As of Sunday, the group behind the fundraiser says they are $34,000 short of their goal of $1 million.
Using the hashtags #WeNeedAnAngelDonor and #RUDDuffEnough, the middle school students started tweeting several high-profile celebrities and Twitter accounts, including Ellen Degeneres, Jimmy Fallon, and the Today Show.
Dozens of schools in the area also joined in on the push to help possibly find a cure for the rare disease and other diseases in the process.
The group behind the fundraiser says that they have received donations from all 50 states in the U.S., Washington D.C., Puerto Rico, the U.S. Armed Forces and six other countries.
The group hopes to raise the rest of the money by midnight Sunday. If you'd like to donate, you can click here.
