It was an ordinary Sunday morning for Tracy Dizon and her son Atreyu. A fashion designer and milliner, Tracy is a hands-on mom who likes chilling out with her son. November 27 was a date like no other.
Atreyu was watching television and eating chips while Tracy was answering emails. The boy, who is quite mature for his age, coaxed his mom to answer her clients’ messages faster so that she’d have more sales.
Everything was fine when Tracy noticed Atreyu shaking his legs. In her Facebook post, Tracy recalls, “A little odd I thought, but he may be just horsing around. But the next few seconds proved to be the shocker of my life. I suddenly saw right in front of my eyes Atreyu having a seizure-like movement. A mix of thoughts ran through my head: Was he suddenly getting angry? Did he get electrocuted? Was he joking around like he usually does? But there’s something very disturbing with his movements. I ran to him before he started hitting the table and chair, and that’s when I saw his face in pain but quiet. His eyes rolled up and suddenly his mouth bubbled some white liquid, then threw up the chips he was munching on to me. I tried to protect him from slamming on the things around us. I kept shouting, ‘Atreyu, Atreyu what’s going on? Atreyu, Atreyu what’s going on?! Hey baby, baby…'”
When Tracy was 21, she lived in a home for single moms so that she can have Atreyu. She went back to college later on, accompanied by her one-year-old boy in a baby carrier. When Atreyu became fussy, she would breastfeed him in class. Tracy always felt somewhat guilty for disturbing her classmates, so she strived to do her best in every class.
She writes in the Go Fund Me post, “Despite the hardship, Atreyu has been my angel. He would always be so proud of me and always looked at my work as the most precious one amongst all. He grew up in fashion show backstages, meeting my fashion family, who has also seen him grow up since he was just two years old. I couldn’t be any prouder to see him finding his own light to shine as he got older. He is one of the wisest people you’d ever talk to, I tell you.”
But in just a few seconds, all of Tracy’s dreams for her son came crashing down. While Atreyu eventually regained consciousness, he could neither walk or speak. His family rushed him to the emergency room of the Quirino Memorial Medical Center, but the only thing that the health workers did was get his blood sugar.
Atreyu would later on be transferred to the Philippine Children’s Medical Center (PCMC) in Quezon City, where doctors found that he had a big mass tumor on his brain.
Tracy recalls Atreyu saying, “I would have never thought this would happen to me. I could even have more belief we can win the lottery than have this thing in my brain, Mommy.”
Yesterday, Atreyu had his surgery at the Philippine General Hospital. Tracy recounts in her Instagram post, “He was still making faces and smiling despite the early morning schedule. He’s so brave. We prayed Angel of God while he’s getting wheeled to the operating room. He’s so brave he even told me ‘Don’t cry na, Mommy.'”
Afterwards, the brave boy only had kind words for the team who performed the procedure, and was up and about telling stories about what transpired.
Tracy has never left her son’s side. But because her earnings are based on sales, Tracy needs the help of generous souls in order to care for her child until his full recovery. One of the fundraising projects slated for Atreyu is Art For Atreyu at Crave Park Marikina on December 17 and 18. His family has also set up a Go Fund Me account for Atreyu’s expenses for surgery and full recovery.
In her Go Fund Me post, Tracy says, “At this point, I’m praying more than anything else that whatever we will go through in the coming days, I pray so hard that he can fully recover and still grow up with so much wisdom and intelligence and vibrant life. I hope he wouldn’t suffer so much pain as he already has endured a lot and still have the golden heart. The world would be such a better place if Atreyu can grow and pursue all his dreams in life.”
For an update on Atreyu’s condition, check out Tracy’s post. Let us continue to pray for his full recovery.
Moms may help Atreyu through prayers or through financial assistance. Course your donations through https://www.gofundme.com/p2-atreyus-brain-surgery.
Photographs from Tracy Dizon’s Facebook account.
Hello Mommies, thank you for this big help <3