GoFundMe Page Raises Money for 'Tiger King' Star Joshua Dial Who Suffers From PTSD

The popular Netflix documentary Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness gave fans an update on the cast of characters that were in Joseph Maldonado-Passage's life with a new episode that featured interviews with Rick Kirkham, Kelci "Saff" Saffery, John Finlay, and more. 

While more disturbing details were brought to light about the treatment of big cats, one cast member revealed in the new episode that he still suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and is seeking help for his mental health.

Joshua Dial walked into Joe Exotic's life with his ultimate dream job, to be a political campaign manager. The political science major ran Joe's 2018 Oklahoma gubernatorial race. 

While employed by the "Tiger King" he also witnessed the tragic death of Joe's husband, Travis Maldonado.

In the Netflix documentary, Joshua told cameras that he witnessed the death of Travis, who shot himself in the head in an accidental suicide in 2017. 

Speaking with after-show host Joel McHale in the interview special Tiger King and I, the Netflix star explained how the traumatic event continues to hinder his mental health. 

"I definitely have PTSD,” he told People magazine. “There was no preparation for what I saw in that office. It was so shocking. I have nightmares about it.”  

Since he was never able to get the proper counseling, a GoFundMe was set up to help raise money for his treatment.

Currently, more than $9,000 has been donated in Joshua's honor.

“I don’t want to have to ask for help, but I know that everything I went through, especially working over a-year-and-a-half looking at that bullet hole thousands of times, I need help," Joshua told People. "It’s been a hard realization for me to come to. To watch someone take their own life is a violation against nature. It’s not something that the human brain is meant to deal with.” 

On Joshua's GoFundMe page, which was set up by the hosts of a Libertarian podcast, the former employee was also forced to watch a video of Joe Exotic's zookeeper Kelci "Saff" Saffery get his arm torn off by a tiger.

One of the biggest OMG moments in the documentary is when a 27-year-old Saff is forced to amputate his arm after being mauled by a tiger. While at work, the zookeeper broke a cardinal rule, which is not to stick your hand in the big cat cages. Unfortunately, the damage to Saff's arm was so severe that doctors told him he would have to undergo numerous surgeries, or amputate it.

Saff decided to go with the latter, and to this day does not regret the decision. After the traumatic event, Saff returned to work less than one week later. 

And, the zookeeper does not blame the tiger for mauling his arm off. "I broke protocol and stuck my hand in a cat cage instead of using the stick provided," Saff said. "The cat let go and pushed my arm back through the cage. This tiger was not aggressive towards me."

You can now stream Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness on Netflix.