This little guy is saving lives, but losing his own...

This is a Dutch boy named Tijn.
This week, he has become a hero for countless people and he did it the way brave Dutch boys are known for; with his fingers!

But first, some backstory:

Every year before christmas in the Netherlands, a national radio station sets out to raise as much money as possible to combat a different 'silent catastrophe' every year. In 2016 they are fighting pneumonia, of wich a child dies every 35 seconds wordwide.
They do this by erecting a glass studio called The Glass House in a city center (this year in Breda) and invite people to join the fun and request any record you'd like for any reason, as long as you donate money for it to Red Cross.

Also, the DJs inside don't eat and never set foot outside for the entire week.

After 48 hours, they had raised over €1.3 million, enough to help over 430.000 families prevent pneumonia. Of course this is a huge amount of money, but a major Dutch news outlet called it a meager result as by this time last year nearly €2.5 million was raised.

Dick move, I know.

Not too long after, Tijn and his father step up to the donation box.

Father explains that they found out in May that Tijn suffers from an incurable brain tumor, diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma, that has again started to grow and he will most likely not live to see next christmas.

What he wants to do is help other kids. “Most of the poor kids infected with pneumonia don’t even live to be five years old. That is why we’re standing up to fight.”

They've come up with an Ice-Bucket-Challenge-esque idea to raise money: Tijn started painting nails at the price of a €1 donation and they encourage everyone to participate by painting your nails, donating, and challenging three friends to do the same.

They cut a special little new window through the Glass House for him to comfortably paint nails through!

Many Dutch celebs jumped on and donations started pouring in.

I just got back from work, I listened to the 24/7 show all night and he has just passed the €1 million milestone! This of course adds to the total money raised.
(Here he is jazzing up windsurfer Dorian van Rijsselberghe's nails)

Maybe, 2016 isn't so bad after all. It makes me sad to realise little Tijn probably won't see all of 2017..

Remember, the whole world can join this good cause!
For more information and donations, head here: https://kominactie.3fm.nl/actie/lak-aan

This story touched me and I hope you lovely Imgurians enjoy it too. I wish you all the best for the holidays, and looooooooooooooooong after!