- Gavin Funke is rallying help to support his friend, Veterans Affair nurse Jimmy Dowdle, who is battling cancer.
- Dowdle, a devoted family man, is working two jobs despite his diagnosis.
- A GoFundMe page aims to secure his family's future amid the uncertain prognosis.
SALT LAKE CITY — You never know where you're going to meet your best friends.
For Gavin Funke, that moment happened at the Veterans Affairs Hospital in Salt Lake City.
"Jimmy's one of those people that the minute you meet him, you just know what a good person he is," said Funke.
When Funke first started working at the Veterans Affairs a couple of years ago, it was Jimmy Dowdle who made him feel welcome.
"Huge heart, always crackin' jokes, smilin'," Funke remembered. "I mean, when I started there, I was coming from a place I had been for quite a few years, and he made me feel completely at home."
Dowdle is a nurse at the Veterans Affairs who takes pride in caring for those who served our country.
But for as much as the work matters to him, Funke says when Dowdle isn't there, it's all about his real family.
"He is just all about his family. Every second he is not at work, he's with his four girls, his wife. I mean, they are his entire life," said Funke.
To take care of them, Dowdle works two full-time nursing jobs, one at the Veterans Affairs and another at the Utah State Prison.
But earlier this year, everything changed when Dowdle became the patient.
"He was diagnosed with Stage 4 metastatic melanoma," said Funke. "He has tumors in his brain, his bladder, his bones (and) his lungs. They're everywhere."
The prognosis is uncertain.
Dowdle is undergoing radiation and immunotherapy while working both jobs.
"(The) pain he's in is tremendous. The daily pain he's facing right now," said Funke.
That's why Funke is speaking out about his friend and helping to spread awareness of a *GoFundMe donation page Dowdle's family has set up to help.
The page isn't necessarily to help with medical bills, it's more for what would happen if the treatments don't work. Dowdle wants to make sure his daughters can go to college, the mortgage is paid and debts are cleared.
"I know the kind of person he is, and it's his turn. Like, it's his turn to get help and to be treated the way he treats everyone else," said Funke.
Because that's what best friends do for each other.
"It's a very, very long road ahead," he said. "And like I said, if there's anything we can do to just make that road easier, then that's what I'm hoping for."
*KSL.com does not assure that the money deposited to the account will be applied for the benefit of the persons named as beneficiaries. If you are considering a deposit to the account, you should consult your own advisors and otherwise proceed at your own risk.
