Tampa’s real-life Lieutenant Dan has $100,000 reasons to celebrate. Joseph Malinowski, who went viral online after it was revealed he planned to stay on his sailboat during back-to-back hurricanes, was gifted a new boat amid his newfound fame.
Wednesday night, the popular streamer Adin Ross went live with Malinowski to reveal his generous gift.
“I’m going to be able to pay for a boat for you. We’re going to get you a nice boat in the range of $50,000 to $100,000,” Ross told him. “And we’re going to get you a full-time Kick deal, which is a livestream deal where you can stream your entire voyages and all your adventures and you can have a passive income come in… You can livestream and connect with fans all over the world, and they can really see your adventure, man.”
Lieutenant Dan Reacts to the Generosity
A stunned Malinowski replied, “Wow. Thank you. I don’t know what else to say other than thank you. Bless you all. That’s my dream.”
Malinowski then opened up about his life and shared a little bit about he wound up in his current situation.
“You’re giving me my life back. I’m 54 years old, and I’ve never gotten to live yet,” he said. “I was satisfied with my social security disability check every month. That kept me [able to get] food and other things I might have needed. I was content with that, but I was never happy with it. I was content to be able to survive like that, but you’re giving me the opportunity to live.”
Like his namesake in Forrest Gump, the real-life Lieutenant Dan is an amputee.
“I lost my leg when I was 16, cut it off when I was 18, and then when I got married at 19, my legs really took a different turn,” Malinowski added. “I was diagnosed with cancer when I was 30. I went through 13 years of OxyContin addiction because of that. Got off OxyContin in 2014, and then have been on the street since 2015. My life has been very eventful, but not in a good way.”
How Lieutenant Dan Went Viral
The Lieutenant Dan saga started when TikToker Terrence Concannon, who’s known as Tampa Terrence on the platform, posted videos of Malinowski stating his intention to ride out Hurricanes Helene and Milton on his boat.
Despite pleas from police and even the Tampa mayor, with offers for a hotel room, Malinowski refused to leave the boat.
Concannon, who dubbed Malinowski “Lieutenant Dan” in the first place, captured all the drama on TikTok as millions of viewers watched. The TikToker also started a GoFundMe for Malinowski, which, as of Thursday morning, has raised nearly $40,000.
On the fundraiser’s page, Concannon described Malinowski as the “the kindest soul,” and wrote that he was “never asking for anything but always ready to lend a hand.”
IS Lieutenant Dan A Criminal?
With attention comes criticism, and many people have pointed out that Malinowski—a man living pretty recklessly on a boat—doesn’t have a squeaky-clean past.
According to the local PBS station, Malinowski previously spent nearly six months in jail for punching a police officer. In 2023 Malinowski was criminally charged for allegedly sinking a sailboat, per the outlet. Later that year, Malinowski was arrested after it was alleged that he tried to set a woman on fire with gasoline, the outlet reported. According to the outlet, there’s also an ongoing legal battle about the ownership of Malinowski’s now-infamous sailboat.
However, screenshots going around social media that accuse Lieutenant Dan of being a pedophile or sex offender are completely false—they are about an unrelated man.
Malinowski did survive the storm, which made landfall Wednesday night. A reporter from the local Fox station spoke to Malinowski after the category 3 hurricane touched down, and he confirmed, “I’m fine.”
The post ‘Lieutenant Dan’ Survived the Hurricane on His Sailboat. So Adin Ross Offered Him a New One Worth $100K. appeared first on VICE.
The post ‘Lieutenant Dan’ Survived the Hurricane on His Sailboat. So Adin Ross Offered Him a New One Worth $100K. appeared first on VICE.
