Help with Baby Marios Funeral Costs & Family Life Transition

**The current 253k donated has already been spent on living expenses and medical bills. This is a call for additional donations as they will need to pay for funeral costs and navigate this next chapter of their lives as they both stopped working to care for him.

It's with much sadness to inform you our precious baby Mario passed away from his battle with Rhabdoid cancer on the morning of 5/24, surrounded by his loving mother, father, and sister in Massachusetts.There are no words to describe the pain of losing such a sweet innocent angel.

We laid him to rest on June 1st in Boston surrounded by loved ones. 

Baby Mario was on this earth for such a short amount of time but the impact he had will be everlasting. He came here with a smile on his face, unbeknownst to us of how much joy he would bring through so much darkness.

My heart is with my brother and my sister in law and their sweet baby girl that is still here missing his smell, his laughs, his light–forced to adjust to the unimaginable.

This world is not built for grievers, for heart aches that make your whole world stop.

I’m praying that even though life keeps moving, they get the chance to slow down and be with this ache for as long as it takes to build their own relationships with this grief. To grant them the time to come home to themselves and feel the spirit of life moving through them.

I am calling on community support to help them cover the costs of his funeral, outstanding medical bills, and this next chapter in their lives.

Mario’s mother and father both quit their jobs, moved across the country, and sought the best care at Dana Farber Cancer Institute. They will need our help in starting their lives over, in finding the courage and strength that he carried everyday to keep on living for themselves and their sweet baby girl that will forever miss her brother.

My heart aches for the words he’ll never get to say, the places he’ll never go, the laughs he’ll never get to share.

I pray we always remember you in the trees, in the wind that coats our cheeks, on the Charles River where you loved to play, in the heart of your sister who loved you so dearly, in the actions that you will inspire in our family, in the movies you watched over and over again. In the piggy back rides you shared with your dad, in the womb of your mother who carried you.

I pray your spirit is greeted by the sweetest softest warmest hug in your transition, that you may feel at ease and know that your time and work here will forever be appreciated.

Thank you for choosing to come here, to be with this family. I’m so sorry you couldn’t stay longer.

There is so much more I want to share but for now we are asking for support to continue donating to cover the costs of his funeral and this next chapter of their lives.

NEWS STORY: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_O1CUFO3Cs

UPDATE: 11/7 

Hi everyone,

The family is going on its 7th month now in Boston and still does not know when they will be able to return home to California.

Thank you all so much for the support that has been given to the family so far. We appreciate your patience as we’ve taken some time to give people updates on how baby Mario is doing. It goes without saying how difficult this situation has been for the family, but your support is deeply felt.

What makes Rhabdoid one of the most aggressive childhood cancers is that it adapts to chemotherapy and becomes resistant.

Baby Mario’s chemotherapy has stopped working and they started him on an immunotherapy clinical trial that was teaching his immune system to beat the cancer on his own, which is why those little curly locks are slowly making a comeback!

Throughout this whole experience I’ve witnessed my brother and his wife fight tirelessly to put him in a position where he can get the very best treatment.

They both quit their jobs, packed up their family and moved across the country with no support system because Boston is one of the best in the world for this cancer.

This baby boy has been through so much, his little body is exhausted but he’s still fighting so we’re going to keep fighting for him.

The collective grief this family is experiencing has not only taken a toll on their spirits, but has left them struggling financially.

They are both still not able to work as they are spending sleepless nights in the ER, caring for him 24/7-- all while still taking care of his toddler sister.

Living in an expensive city with high priced groceries, gas, parking etc &

being stressed because you don’t know how you’re going to pay for parking at the hospital is the last thing I want my family to be worried about.

We are asking for financial assistance to continue helping with:

Medical costs

Mortgage

Transportation costs

Grocery cost

Bills, etc.

There is no other way to say this but that they are living in survival mode, living scan to scan praying that they will come back tumor free.

I’m hoping we can raise enough money so that financial stress doesn’t have to be something else on their plate.

Thank you so much for your support.

** the current 13k amount has already been spent on previous medical payments & bills 

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Hi everyone, I am fundraising for my nephew Mario Sanchez.

Last week our family's world came crashing down when baby Mario was diagnosed with the rarest and most aggressive type of cancer for a child , stage 4 Rhabdoid. He previously showed zero symptoms and my brother and his wife are needing support to help navigate this traumatic experience.

Only 20-25 children are diagnosed with this cancer a year.

Baby Mario is one year old, a big cuddly little bug who is still learning how to use the breaks when walking. He loves playing with his older sister Amelia (2) and is a big mama's boy with his dad's heart.

My brother, Mario, and my sister-in-law, Yolanda, are doing their best as they continue to try and provide for their son and their daughter. He just started chemo and will require 24/7 love and care.

The family has relocated to Boston temporarily to the Dana Farber Cancer Institute to receive treatment and Yolanda and Mario have had to forgo working,

The money will go toward:

Baby Mario's needs that we can't fully foresee right now

Gas for traveling back and forth to the hospital

Mortage at their home in CA

& supplementing the family income with housing, food, and bills

Please if you cannot donate right now, please share and pray for Baby Mario and my brother's family.

Anything helps.

We will keep people updated on the progress of his healing.