Help Matt Tay recover from brain surgery

Matt is an active 10-year-old boy who recently graduated from Greenbrook Elementary. He is kind, generous and gentle. Matt has a great group of friends at school and at church that he loves hanging out with. He loves basketball, swimming, playing Minecraft, and 80s music. He’s a Warriors and Star Wars fan, loves Studio Ghibli, and his favorite youtube channel is MrBeast.

One day, he came home from school feeling unwell and said he was dizzy. He threw up several times and started having headaches, double vision, slurring, loss of appetite and general weakness in the right side of his body. Things went downhill quickly, and he subsequently wasn’t able to eat, stand, walk or talk. We took him to the ER at Kaiser Walnut Creek, where they found a mass in his brain. He was admitted to PICU at Kaiser Oakland.

He was diagnosed with deep-site Cerebral Cavernous Malformation (Thalamic hemorrhagic brain mass). It’s a mass of blood clots that looks like a golf-ball-sized mulberry. It sat deep in the center of the brain on the thalamus. The thalamus relays brain signals to the rest of the body, controlling motor functions, sensory, speech, memory, sensations of needing to use the bathroom, etc. The clot has affected his abilities to do all of these things.

Matt had to undergo two brain surgeries. The first was to keep him alive and stable, and the second surgery was to remove the clot. After the surgeries, he was transferred to Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland for intensive rehabilitation.

The family’s normal life has now been turned upside down, and things will never be the same as they had been. They are thankful to God for family, friends and church and are humbled by the outpouring of love for Matt. They have been given a second chance with Matt, and they strive to help him live his best life by gaining independence and confidence.

They are asking for prayers and donations. Matt’s memory is not like before, and he has no recollection of what happened; it’s spotty for now but improving. His speech and the entire right side of his body still require much work.

Matt’s father is the sole breadwinner for the family of five. They have never experienced anything like this, so they were unsure how much to ask for at this stage. We have started this Gofundme to support the Tay family financially so they can focus on their sons recovery. We hope to relieve some of the stress and hardship that financial pressure is putting on them.

On top of existing hospitalization, medical expenses, and moving to a more accessible rental; they anticipate life-long expenses for medicine, medical equipment, rehabilitation, transportation, and special educational needs, etc. The road to recovery will be longer than first expected, but the family has hope and faith that God will continue to work in healing Matt. All donations will go directly to supporting Matt’s rehabilitation and recovery.

Thank you for your love and support.