In Loving Memory of Oody

A very special 10 year old boy lost his battle with cancer on December 3rd, 2013. He fought an incredible battle for over 2 years. Oody, the nickname he was affectionately given by his younger sister and brother, was one of a kind. I had the pleasure of first getting to know Oody during home tutoring lessons while he was unable to attend school because of his illness. He gladly accepted the challenge of catching up on his school work and always had a great attitude toward learning. He quickly caught up to rest of his class and excelled, especially in math. His love for reading quickly became apparent to me and we would have long conversations about his reading assignments. An especially fond memory we shared was when we would read his favorite series of books at home and in the hospital, the "Diary of a Wimpy Kid." Oody loved the adventures of the main character, Greg Heffley, and was always very excited to share stories about the character with me. It was an opportunity for Oody to escape his world for a moment and forget about his cancer.

Later when he returned to school and joined my class, he became an inspiration to not only his fellow classmates, but for me as well. His strength was immeasurable and he never complained about his condition or the struggles he faced just to make it to class every day. He was just excited to learn and attend class with his friends in 3^rd grade. Despite his illness, countless treatments and repeated hospital stays, he never allowed his condition to beat his spirit and he would brighten the room with his personality. Oody quickly became very well-liked in class and he was deeply missed by all of us when he had to leave school just days before summer break for treatment.

Oody was not just admired by his fellow students, but he was a perfect big brother to his younger sister and brother who he adored. Even in immense pain, Oody was always the patient and giving older brother and he shared everything with them. I witnessed how important it was for him to be a role model for them. He was their best friend.

Throughout this difficult time, I got to know his family and found them to be a loving, caring and kind family who would do anything to save their son's life. This involved many treatment programs here in Arizona, as well as Texas, Mexico and China. In order to fund these expensive and experimental treatments the family made enormous financial sacrifices.

My goal is to help his family with their financial burden from medical bills associated with Oody's treatments and allow the family an opportunity to grieve for the terrible loss of their son. Anything you can contribute to help this family is greatly appreciated. No amount you can contribute is too small.

Thank you for your consideration.