Help Xavier Bortz Through Brain Surgery & Recovery

Our dear friends and pillars of our community, Stevo Bortz and Valerie Legendre, are currently going through a crisis and need all the help they can get. Their son Xavier, who turns 5 in June and was recently diagnosed with autism, is currently in the pediatric ICU at Johns Hopkins Hospital after a mass was discovered in his brain following severe nausea, weight loss, and weakness.

Under the care of some of the best doctors in the world, the current priority is to relieve fluid pressure in his skull and get him strong enough to undergo neurosurgery to remove the mass. We will know more about the underlying cause once its removed and biopsied, but according to the family, it's likely Xavier will be hospitalized for weeks to months.

This emergency would be enough for a lifetime, but it's not the only hardship the Bortz family has been grappling with. Just a month ago, Stevo finished treatment for thyroid cancer that began last year. On top of that, as an employee of the federal government, he's also been subject to intense & ongoing stress from the turmoil imposed by the current administration.

Stevo & Val have been good friends of ours for many years. There are hundreds of others in our local MD/DC/VA area, and the greater video game music community, that can say the same. They're two of the most generous, kind, funny, and creative people we know.

Our goal with this fundraiser is to give them some financial security and relief in the face of this unimaginable adversity. Thank you so much in advance for your support!