Hey fam, we are coming together today to support the Lopez family of Tobin, Chelsea, Penélope, Emilia, and specifically the growth of my little cousin, Mateo. The family learned recently that Mateo, two years old, has brain damage which has drastically slowed his development. As Chelsea puts it, “Mateo is like a 5-month-old baby trapped in the body of a two-year-old.” While Tobin and Chelsea did not ask this of us, we know the lengths that they have gone to support each of us individually. Be we family, friend, or perfect stranger, it doesn’t matter. They’ve been there.

Right now, the Lopez family is needing our help to purchase an FDA-certified hyperbaric chamber for the treatment of their son, Mateo. We are going to raise $20,000 for the Lopez family to purchase this hyperbaric chamber so that Mateo can be treated in his own home. Any additional funds will go towards the costs associated with the treatment they’ve already sought out. Once we raise the $20,000 (or more!) these funds will be released and go directly to their family to be used immediately, as there is no waiting around for this to get better. We are acting now. Thank YOU. - Kellen (first cousin of Tobin, Lauryn, Aureole)

 

Read more of Mateo’s journey below, written by papa Tobin.

“Our two year old son Mateo is the happiest, most content, and most positively dispositioned baby we’ve ever met. However, we’ve known for some time now that Mateo was way behind developmentally. He doesn’t crawl, doesn’t sit or stand unassisted. He doesn’t speak, can’t feed himself, and hardly even responds to his name.
 

Recently, Chelsea and I learned why. After neurological tests at the L.A. Children’s Hospital, we found out that Mateo has a smaller brain than he should. Doctors do not yet know what caused this, but in the meantime, we are doing everything we can to help him succeed. We’ve already tried many therapies you may have heard of, but we understand that in order to treat Mateo’s unique issue, we must seek a unique solution. We’ve begun researching a treatment called Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT). This life-changing treatment could help many things in the body, but specifically it can help the brain by regrowing tissue and blood vessels. We decided to bring Mateo to the best of the best: Dr Paul Harch of Harch HBOT in New Orleans.


In our efforts to educate ourselves about the HBOT therapies, we had bought a book called The Oxygen Revolution. Dr. Paul Harch who wrote the book is the leader in “Breakthrough Gene Therapy for Traumatic Brain Injury & Other Disorders” through HBOT. The book gave us hope that we were doing the right thing for our boy. After leaving L.A. feeling hopeless we called his clinic. Six days after our L.A. appointment we were sitting in his office in New Orleans. The following day he began what will be a five to eight-week treatment. Chelsea and the babies are in New Orleans for the duration, while I’m home with Penélope.


I don’t care about money. I haven’t had it most of my life anyway. Vegas has been good to us and so up until now we have been ready to spend whatever it takes. Things are definitely getting tight since none of this HBOT program is covered by insurance though. We had no intention of asking anyone for help but just learned that help was being offered anyway. I’m not too proud to accept help but it’s still a bit overwhelming to hear that people are coming together for our little man. These are happy tears. Thanks fam.”


More treatment explanation here: www.hbot.com