This man met 500 strangers and asked them to get a matching tattoo

Don Caskey is a dead man walking. Three years ago, he was diagnosed with renal cell carcinoma, a form of kidney cancer. It changed everything. The average survival post-diagnosis is 13 months, with a 5-year survival rate of only 10% of patients, according to the National Library of Medicine. Caskey's doctor said he had months, not years. "I decided to travel the world and meet strangers and get matching tattoos with them to make human connections before I pass away,” Caskey said. “Now I’ve got more than I’ve had in my entire life just by connections from people.” He has more than 500 tattoos that he got with complete strangers from six different countries on three different continents. “Once I got the first one, it kind of just snowballed," Caskey said. Don has traveled the country, making unforgettable connections with people and raising awareness for his nonprofit Stranger Ink. He started it in June of 2021 with the goal of taking the financial burden off families by covering the funereal costs of people who are terminally ill, like him. “I didn’t realize what all was entailed in a funeral until I had to plan one for myself," Caskey said. Caskey said almost every penny he has is spent on trying to stay alive. “I wanted to help other people by paying for their funerals if they are terminally ill so that they can spend the money and the time enjoying what they’ve got left and not necessarily put the burden on their family after they pass away,” he said. MORE: https://www.wcpo.com/news/local-news/this-man-met-500-strangers-and-asked-them-to-get-a-matching-tattoo-heres-why