My name is Delia Alaniz. My cousin Maximo Ortiz has a 14-year-old son, Lil Max, who was admitted to The Seattle Children's Hospital two days before Christmas 2024. He initially went in for severe pain in his entire right leg. They took him to the ER and conducted X-rays, lab tests, ultrasounds, an MRI. They decided to perform a second MRI of his hip lower back, which revealed an infection in his hip. Things quickly deteriorated; he had trouble breathing, an extremely high temperature, and dangerously low blood pressure. Consequently, they sedated and had to put him on a ventilator and moved him to the PICU. During this time, we discovered he has salmonella. The source is unknown, but he has it. While there been some improvement, there is also bad: his kidneys are not functioning properly, and his lungs are not inflating fully. He remains in the PICU and is still not breathing on his own. However, he is, using sign language, and even writing on a notepad, which is encouraging. He just spent his 14th Birthday in the PICU as well.

However, with this ordeal, my cousin Max has lost his job and exhausted PTO. As we all know, rent and bills still need to be paid. They also use help food and gas for both parents to travel back and forward every day. Any donations are greatly appreciated. They want to say Thank You to everyone for all the love and support that they have and will be received. Please keep Lil Max in your prayers to make a full recovery from all this. Love you all.