Baby Joaquin was born on Nov 10th, 2021, with Trisomy 18, a disease that causes severe developmental delays due to an extra chromosome 18. His condition affected his lungs, his ability to suckle, failure to grow and gain weight as expected, skeletal malformations/defects, and structural abnormalities of the heart and other organs.

Doctors said he would not survive birth; then, he was only given days to live, then weeks, then months, but Joaquin fought his heart out, and the Sanchez family never gave up hope. With multiple visits to the hospital, Joaquin fought for his life, challenged the doctor's probabilities and lived for 10 months.

On September 13th Joaquin was hospitalized due to bleeding in his digestive system, a fever that wouldn’t go away and an infection in his blood. After a few days in the hospital with no improvements, the family made the tough decision of letting baby Joaquin go. The pain and struggles he was undergoing were no longer bearable.

On September 20th, we lost Joaquin, but heaven gained an angel.

These past 10 months for Joaquin's family have been a roller coaster of emotions. Joaquin is survived by his parents, Ray and Mary, his brothers Isaac and Emilio, and his sisters Cathryn, Camila and Myranda.

From doctor's visits to in-home nurses to back-and-forth visits to the hospital, they have been there for Joaquin every step of the way. This has been especially challenging financially for the family. Ray is the sole household provider of income for their family. He wakes up early, has a long commute, and works long days. Mary stays at home with the kids. Cathryn is in college full-time and Isaac is in school while working a full-time job. Emilio, Camila and Myranda are also in school.

The Sanchez family will need some time to recover financially but would love to give their baby boy a proper good bye. So please, if you can help out this beautiful, loving family, it would mean the world to them and me. Anything you can spare would be a blessing.

Thank you,

Ryan