#HAYESTOUGH - Hayes Tate

UPDATE - DECEMBER 4, 2016

Here is an update from Steve: 

Hayes has returned to his Heavenly Father. He passed away in our arms surrounded by all of his loved ones. Hayes has taught us so many things on his mission here on earth. One of the more important things Hayes taught us was it was okay to smile in times of fear. Hayes always smiled. He was an angel. Hayes' impact on this world is evident by the amount of love and support we have felt from all over the world. Hayes was tough. He faced his battle with cancer head on and ultimately won that battle. He won that battle because he lived life to the fullest despite having cancer. As Stuart Scott said "you beat cancer by how you live, why you live and the manner in which you live". Hayes did just that. I know that families are forever and I will be Hayes Dad forever. Our family will be okay. We will be okay. Not because it won't pain us, but because Hayes has taught us that it will be okay. He taught us that life's biggest battles cant overtake our love and determination. And this won't come in the way of our love for Hayes and our love for our family. I'm so grateful to be his Dad and I've never been so proud of something in my entire life. My son has changed the world. How amazing is that? He makes me proud to be a Dad. He's my son! How lucky am I? Thank you Hayes. Thank you for choosing our family and impacting the world in the way you did. You are the true definition of a HERO and your legacy will live on forever. #hayestough #familiesareforever #family #dadlife #cancersucks #eternity #love #eternalfamilies #


UPDATE - NOVEMBER 29, 2016
Hayes, our little warrior, has battled hard. He successfully endured five rounds of intense chemo and a stem-cell transplant. Recently, his family took a much deserved trip to Disneyland, which was what they said they would do when Hayes got better!

Last week, Steve and Savanna received devastating news that the cancer had aggressively returned. This past Saturday, they brought Hayes home from the hospital to finish out his life surrounded by his loved ones!

In the words of Savanna, "We have all prayed for a miracle! I can't begin to tell you the efforts I have put into getting Hayes better! I was so sure that cancer was in the past and that Hayes was going to live a long, full, boring life. It hasn't been anywhere on my radar! As I have mentioned before, the cancer has returned, and this time, it decided not to give Hayes a chance! It has taken over certain areas of his brain that are integral to survival! I have gone through the depths of despair! But, saying that, I want you to know that all of our prayers for a miracle did not go unanswered! Hayes' entire life has been a miracle! Everything we have done up until his relapse has been a miracle! We were able to go on the most euphoric family vacation to Disneyland just 3 short weeks ago and that in and of itself was a miracle!! The fact that his life will not end at death, that is a miracle! The fact that he ALWAYS smiled and laughed through the pain, that was a miracle! The fact that his heartbeat was found in my stomach at all was a miracle!! Hayes is without a doubt my miracle baby and I feel so lucky that he is mine, forever!!'

Thank you for your love and support! #HayesTough

ORIGINAL POSTING (January 2016) 

Thank you for visiting this page for Hayes! Hayes is a tough little guy and is surrounded by an incredible family, including amazing parents, a 9 year old brother, a 7 year old sister, a four year old brother and his fellow 10 mos old brother and sister triplets. It takes a village… and there is a strong village that will be there for Hayes and his family every step of the way.   

This page has been setup to support their family as their lives have literally been turned upside down.

Hayes is a tough kid and is a fighter! In fact, his parents told me that he has a triplet brother that is much bigger than he is. They still remember their first fight over a toy. Hayes had this tenacity although his brother was stronger, Hayes had this unbelievable determination to fight for what he wanted. Hayes was the last baby born out of the triplets and immediately was put on a ventilator. He quickly got off the ventilator and was eventually the first baby to come home. His parents have always known that Hayes is determined. He has a tenacious mentality that they haven't seen from their other kids.

His middle name is Kyle, after Chris Kyle from American Sniper. He has defied the odds from the beginning… when they first found out that they were expecting triplets they initially heard only two heartbeats. The ultrasound revealed three babies, but they couldn't hear his heartbeat. The Doctor wasn't very optimistic that he would develop giving him a 50/50 chance, but after only a week they went back and heard Hayes' heartbeat. He was determined to come to their family and be a part of the happy chaos that is the Tate family! 

Here's the background on what's happened: 


In December, Hayes started getting sick. He was throwing up, sleeping a lot, and wouldn’t really eat. Every time Steve and Savanna took him to the doctors, they told them he just had a virus… it was going around. After hearing this for five weeks, they knew it wasn’t right. They had five other kids at home and none of them were sick. If it was a virus, someone else would have caught it. 

On January 7th, 2016, they decided that they needed to take him to Primary’s Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City. They did a scan and found a mass in his brain. 

The next day Hayes went in for surgery to have it removed. They were able to remove the tumor but it was large and malignant. The tumor was sent to pathology. 

On January 19, 2016, pathology came back and Hayes was diagnosed with Choroid Plexus Carcinoma, an extremely rare form of cancer that affects 1 in 3 million people. It’s so rare that doctors in Utah have never treated it. 

It is very early yet and we do not know much information right now, but we do know that the family is going to need every bit of help they can get to provide Hayes the very best treatment.  They have enough to worry about, we don’t want them to have to worry about any financial burdens. Even though they have medical insurance, we know there will be lots of things they have to pay for. 

100% of the money donated will go to help Hayes and the family beat this!!!

Anything and everything will help, including prayers! 

#HAYESTOUGH #PRAYFORHAYES #HAYESARMY

I'll post updates on this page.