Omar's Au-some Fight 2022 Fundraiser

Hello Everyone,

My name is Sarah Ayyad, and I am setting this account up for my little brother Omar. In February 2020, my family and I discovered that Omar, at only 7 years old, had bone cancer called Ewing's (pronounced yoo-ing) sarcoma in his femur. Two years later, he continues to be impacted by the complications of Ewing’s sarcoma. Omar underwent 8 months of chemotherapy, a limb salvage surgery to remove the tumor and save his leg, and 38 total rounds of radiation to his leg and lungs combined. What is Ewing's sarcoma, you ask? It is a very rare type of cancerous tumor that grows either in the bones or in the tissue surrounding the bones. It is typically found in the long bones of people aged between 10 and 20 years old. If it metastasizes, this cancer can move to other bones or even the lungs and brain. Symptoms include bone pain, swelling, fever, and tiredness.

Thankfully, Omar’s scans have continued to show NED (No Evidence of Disease) since November 2020. Though he no longer has to go through cancer treatment, Omar has been using a wheelchair due to complications with his femur. Last year, he underwent surgery to place a donor bone (allograph) into his leg, but we recently discovered that the donor bone was contaminated, resulting in an internal bone infection. This discovery set back the healing process of the bone graft. While the infection is being treated, all pins and plates from his leg were removed - essentially, his leg has been completely unstable since Mid-May. This called for 6-8 more weeks of being in a cast with absolutely no-weight being put onto his leg.

Unfortunately, we recently discovered that there was an open wound at the treatment site underneath the cast. This called for an emergency trip and admission to Children’s National in D.C. (a four-hour road trip from our home) where the care team could debride the wound and determine the best care moving forward. Omar has had to deal with so much these past few years, including COVID-19, Autism, cancer, being separated from his twin sister Ameera, and now he will have to continue into the summer months in a cast, unable to enjoy many of the things he loves.

Our goal: Being that Omar will likely remain casted and in a wheelchair for a while, we hope to raise money to purchase a wheelchair-accessible van/vehicle to travel with Omar. With Covid-19 and cancer, Omar could not participate in much public life due to his complicated immune system. Now, however, the main barrier for him is transportation. I have been lifting him and his wheelchair myself into our small, 4-person car whenever we need to travel to appointments or to the hospital, having to leave Ameera behind due to space issues. A new vehicle would give Omar more freedom to get out and go places with both his wheelchair and his sister.

Some background on Omar: Omar is a smiley, funny, optimistic 9-year-old boy who happens to be on the autism spectrum. Anyone who knows Omar will tell you that he loves talking to people and is very outgoing - he has managed to beat the odds with his cancer diagnosis and autism difficulties.

With that being said, we are going to need your help. With the numerous back-and-forth trips to D.C., these bills are quickly going to overwhelm us. Many have asked if they could help in some way, and well, this is it. If you donate, you will be helping us give Omar the best care he deserves. That is our top priority.

For those of you who know us personally: Thank you. We see how much you care and we know that you have our backs, and for that we can not thank you enough. It is times like these that you realize how truly amazing a community can be. For those of you who decided to help some strangers: Thank you as well. My family truly appreciates anything you are willing to give, and I personally thank you for easing some of the financial strain on my parents. With so much going on, you have given them one less thing to worry about and allowed them to focus on helping their son.

If anyone would like to follow Omar's journey, I will be keeping this page updated as I get new information. I will most likely add the new information at the bottom of the original post with some asterisks and the date of the update.

Thank you all again,

Sarah Ayyad