Author: Alessandra Malito / Source: MarketWatch
Actress Dawn Wells is financially stuck. Just like her character on “Gilligan’s Island,” she’s not alone.
Wells, who played Mary Ann Summers on the popular 1960s sitcom about a group of people stranded on a deserted island, is asking her fans for financial assistance after incurring high medical bills and suffering major investment losses.
A friend of the star created a GoFundMe campaign with a goal of raising $180,000 to pay for Wells’ “hospital costs” as well as penalties she owes the Internal Revenue Service (the page did not explain why she owes the penalty fees).
“Dawn is living one of the greatest fears we Americans have, an uncertain future,” her friend Dugg Kirkpatrick wrote on the GoFundMe page. Wells suffered an unexpected accident and had to have “life-threatening” surgery that left her with piles of bills, he wrote.
In the last nine days, the GoFundMe campaign has raised more than $50,000 in donations from more than 1,400 people. “After 2008, like many of us, Dawn suffered through the banking crash and lost everything including her life savings,” Kirkpatrick said.
The actress, 79, confirmed the authenticity of the GoFundMe campaign on her official Facebook FB page on Wednesday.
“A dear, dear friend of mine with a big heart was trying to help me with some common issues we all understand and some may face,” she wrote.
“I don’t know how this happened. I thought I was taking all the proper steps to ensure my golden years. Now, here I am, no family, no husband, no kids and no money. I’m grateful that God has given me so many friends and fans who care, or it would all be too …overwhelming.”Famous or not, Americans struggle with health care expenses
Wells is far from alone on this issue. Some 66% of people say problems with medical bills stem from one-time events rather than treatment for chronic illnesses, according to…
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