On March 16th of 2020, our nephew, Theo went to sleep on the night. like any other four-year-old, and woke in the early hours with stroke like symptoms. In short, his left frontal lobe contained an arteriovenous malformation that had ruptured and bled out. A series of scans showed that he had a cluster of unruptured aneurysms still intact within his left frontal lobe. Theo was placed into a three day long medical coma until his brain was stable. 

In May 12, 2020 - two days after Mother's Day, Theo would have a resection of his left frontal lobe in a 13-hour surgery. Recovery went as well as it could for a boy so young and we were grateful to look forward to a positive future with Theo in it.

Last year, however, Theo's check-up scan unfortunately showed that his AVM returned and on May 14th, 2024, he went underwent gamma knife surgery. It's a process that will take up to three years to complete, with the goal of fully closing off his avm, and drop the risk of hemorrhage to less than 1%- making it virtually harmless when all is finally said and done. 

Needless to say, Theo and his family have been on a long and difficult journey while doing their best to live their lives normally and happily. Now more than ever, we are walking with a purpose - to show support and love for our family and other families facing similar challenges. 

To Theo, the bravest of us all!