I met Daniela in July 2022 when our girls started going to Carpe Diem Preschool where Daniela is the Spanish Teacher. Originally from Colombia, Daniela has poured her heart and soul into the kids at Carpe while going to college for her Bachelors degree. Last summer, Daniela found out she was pregnant and made the brave decision to become a single mother, driven by her deep desire to raise her child in a home filled with love, stability, and hope.

Gabriel was born in February and was healthy and thriving until May 14th when he developed a fever of 103.8°. Daniela brought him to urgent care where they sent her home with Tylenol and told her to come back if his fever wasn’t down in 2-3 days. Friday, Gabriel was super lethargic and Saturday the 17th (two days before Daniela was set to go back to work at Carpe Diem) he was admitted to the ICU where he was having trouble breathing and they found severe liver and kidney damage.

Over the past two weeks, Daniela has found out that Gabriel has Primary Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) a rare, genetic disease that creates an overactive immune system that mistakenly attacks the body's own tissues. Gabriel continues to be daily dialysis, chemotherapy, steroids, and Gamifant— a specialized immunotherapy used to help manage this aggressive disease. Despite being just a few months old, Gabriel is showing incredible strength as he endures this complex and intensive treatment. Primary HLH often requires a bone marrow transplant as a long-term solution.

He will continue to be in the ICU for an undetermined amount of time while Daniela navigates the world of medical specialists while 99% of her family is in another country.

Prayers are always appreciated, as is anything we can do as a collective community to support this amazing woman and her sweet baby.