Diego Summers' Family Fund
Donation protected
Diego's Story
On July 5th, 2015 his mom took Diego to the Emergency room at Boston Children’s Hospital for what she thought was perhaps a fracture on his knee. He had been complaining for about two weeks prior of pain in his right knee and had begun limping around when walking. His mom thought that maybe he had pulled a muscle or had a small fracture from playing soccer, his favorite sport. It turns out that it was no fracture but rather a malignant tumor on his right femur. Two days later Diego was diagnosed with Osteosarcoma in his bone, an aggressive type of cancer. Imagine given this prognosis for your child’s cancer: only 60% of the children with this type of cancer actually beat it. The family remains hopeful and positive that Diego’s resilience and the positive thoughts of those who love him and care about him will help him beat it.
Diego Summers is a 10 year old little boy who lives in Boston and is about to begin 5th grade this fall at the Field School in Weston. Active, funny, smart, sociable, likeable, respectful, creative, logical, loving, and resilient are just a few of the many adjectives that describe him. Yet there is one more that we can add: sick. Diego’s life has gone from being carefree to one filled with worrying about dying from this cancer. No 10 year old should have to go through this. He is a beautiful soul whose life holds promise for our world.
Diego is very lucky on several levels: he lives in Boston and has the best medical care available at The Jimmy Fund Clinic, his family has medical insurance that will most likely cover all medical expenses, and his cancer has not metastasized into another part of his body, yet. However, his parents are worried about the number of chemo sessions Diego will require, the surgery that will potentially remove a large part of his femur (the thigh bone), and whether the cancer will metastasize despite these invasive and debilitating procedures. They also worry about how this will impact Diego’s ability to live a normal life. All Diego has ever wanted to be when he grows up is a professional FIFA (i.e., soccer) player. Now this dream is being jeopardized by “Bertha”, Diego’s name for his cancer.
Diego is considered by his mom, Nancy, to be a miracle baby. Despite having to undergo 5 years of infertility treatments, which led to the birth of his older triplet siblings, Diego was naturally conceived. At 11 weeks “I could not believe my eyes when I saw him in the ultrasound doing what seemed like somersaults in my womb. We created life without the help of medical science; it still is the most amazing feeling. He is my miracle baby,” says his mom.
As long as the family can remember, Diego has been an active little boy. He has had three exemplary role models to follow and imitate: his older siblings James, Kiana, and Kiara. He walked at 10 months old because he wanted to be with them, he talked before turning 1 year old because he wanted to join their conversation. And embrace him they did. His two sisters adore him but his brother James is the one he is closest to and that is what worries his mother most. What is going to happen when James, who is going to be a high school junior, goes to college in two years? And what will happen when James, Kiana, and Kiara, who should be focusing on visiting colleges, need a parent to help them navigate their year?
Diego’s birthday is November 22 and the triplets’ birthday is November 24 so Thanksgiving is not just a national holiday but a quadruplet Summers family birthday party! We can only hope this year they will have something to celebrate.
The family needs your help! Nancy is the sole provider for the household and, because she is a high school teacher, she will not be able to return to work until mid- to late-spring so she can bring Diego to his medical appointments and care for him. Thanks to the generosity of her superintendent at Dedham, her job is secure with a leave of absence that will allow her to come back to work. But without an income until she can return to work, she is worried about how she is going to provide for her four children until then. She wants to keep Diego in the home he has lived in for 7 years but needs help paying the rent, utilities, food bills, and other expenses while not working. The last thing Nancy needs is to worry about anything but the health of her son Diego so please consider contributing.
Let’s help Diego beat Bertha and bring back the joy of life to this family by helping them keep things as stable as possible!
On July 5th, 2015 his mom took Diego to the Emergency room at Boston Children’s Hospital for what she thought was perhaps a fracture on his knee. He had been complaining for about two weeks prior of pain in his right knee and had begun limping around when walking. His mom thought that maybe he had pulled a muscle or had a small fracture from playing soccer, his favorite sport. It turns out that it was no fracture but rather a malignant tumor on his right femur. Two days later Diego was diagnosed with Osteosarcoma in his bone, an aggressive type of cancer. Imagine given this prognosis for your child’s cancer: only 60% of the children with this type of cancer actually beat it. The family remains hopeful and positive that Diego’s resilience and the positive thoughts of those who love him and care about him will help him beat it.
Diego Summers is a 10 year old little boy who lives in Boston and is about to begin 5th grade this fall at the Field School in Weston. Active, funny, smart, sociable, likeable, respectful, creative, logical, loving, and resilient are just a few of the many adjectives that describe him. Yet there is one more that we can add: sick. Diego’s life has gone from being carefree to one filled with worrying about dying from this cancer. No 10 year old should have to go through this. He is a beautiful soul whose life holds promise for our world.
Diego is very lucky on several levels: he lives in Boston and has the best medical care available at The Jimmy Fund Clinic, his family has medical insurance that will most likely cover all medical expenses, and his cancer has not metastasized into another part of his body, yet. However, his parents are worried about the number of chemo sessions Diego will require, the surgery that will potentially remove a large part of his femur (the thigh bone), and whether the cancer will metastasize despite these invasive and debilitating procedures. They also worry about how this will impact Diego’s ability to live a normal life. All Diego has ever wanted to be when he grows up is a professional FIFA (i.e., soccer) player. Now this dream is being jeopardized by “Bertha”, Diego’s name for his cancer.
Diego is considered by his mom, Nancy, to be a miracle baby. Despite having to undergo 5 years of infertility treatments, which led to the birth of his older triplet siblings, Diego was naturally conceived. At 11 weeks “I could not believe my eyes when I saw him in the ultrasound doing what seemed like somersaults in my womb. We created life without the help of medical science; it still is the most amazing feeling. He is my miracle baby,” says his mom.
As long as the family can remember, Diego has been an active little boy. He has had three exemplary role models to follow and imitate: his older siblings James, Kiana, and Kiara. He walked at 10 months old because he wanted to be with them, he talked before turning 1 year old because he wanted to join their conversation. And embrace him they did. His two sisters adore him but his brother James is the one he is closest to and that is what worries his mother most. What is going to happen when James, who is going to be a high school junior, goes to college in two years? And what will happen when James, Kiana, and Kiara, who should be focusing on visiting colleges, need a parent to help them navigate their year?
Diego’s birthday is November 22 and the triplets’ birthday is November 24 so Thanksgiving is not just a national holiday but a quadruplet Summers family birthday party! We can only hope this year they will have something to celebrate.
The family needs your help! Nancy is the sole provider for the household and, because she is a high school teacher, she will not be able to return to work until mid- to late-spring so she can bring Diego to his medical appointments and care for him. Thanks to the generosity of her superintendent at Dedham, her job is secure with a leave of absence that will allow her to come back to work. But without an income until she can return to work, she is worried about how she is going to provide for her four children until then. She wants to keep Diego in the home he has lived in for 7 years but needs help paying the rent, utilities, food bills, and other expenses while not working. The last thing Nancy needs is to worry about anything but the health of her son Diego so please consider contributing.
Let’s help Diego beat Bertha and bring back the joy of life to this family by helping them keep things as stable as possible!
Organizer and beneficiary
Ingrid Holm
Organizer
Boston, MA
Nancy Prieto
Beneficiary
