Prayers Victoria Pelham, The Desert Sun A Coachella toddler who had battled a rare form of brain cancer since April and was whisked to Disneyland last month on a wish died Sunday in his sleep. In his father’s arms in a Loma Linda hospital room, 2-year-old Ulises Duran let out a deep sigh and died about 7 a.m., his family said. “This is how my little angel ended up,” the family posted in Spanish on his public Facebook page with photos of him sleeping in his hospital bed and his parents kissing him. “He didn’t suffer… He only sighed and rested. He is now with God – eight months of battling against cancer but in the end he is resting in peace and is no longer in pain.” “He will always live in our hearts, and we will always remember that he never showed pain on his face no matter how sick he was.” Ulises was gravely ill and unable to eat, move or breathe on his own. After vomiting, emergency room visits and misdiagnoses of stomach infections, Ulises Duran, 2, was diagnosed with an atypical teratoid rhabdoid tumor at Loma Linda University Medical Center. It later spread through his small body. With a hopeful family rallying around him from afar (most still in Mexico) and fervent prayers from his parents, he had undergone an intensive brain surgery, two chemotherapy treatments and 28 rounds of radiation to try to shrink the cancerous growth. He was given medication to control his seizures and nausea, but still woke up many of his last days throwing up or with pain in his head he could only point to. By October, the family was told there was nothing more doctors could do. Law enforcement charity Debbie Chisholm Memorial Foundation stepped in to offer the boy and his family a quickly planned, limousine-escorted, two-day trip to Disneyland — all expenses paid. It was a “dream for us that was practically impossible,” his father, Gabriel, said at the time. The trip was a chance for his parents Gabriel and Elizabeth, Ulises and his 9-year-old sister Marvet to enjoy just being a regular family, to see the sights and the Disney characters at “the Happiest Place on Earth.” Even through all the pain, his parents almost never saw him cry. Photos from his many hospital treatments show a big, cheeky grin painted on his face as tubes poked and prodded. When The Desert Sun interviewed the family in October, Ulises handed the reporter papers, bits and bobs he found on the couch to give, and made funny faces with a laugh. When his favorite song, “I’m a Gummy Bear,” came on, he didn’t miss a beat, dancing and swaying his hips and wagging his finger with his older sister goading him on. “He was always very, very happy — always smiling,” his father reflected from their living room where he once played. “He heard music and would start to dance. The nurses loved him even though he wasn’t their patient. They loved seeing him.” “He was a very loved little boy,” he said. “We loved him very much. We’re going to miss him very much.” His Facebook page showcased a string of photos of Ulises in his last days: cuddled up sleeping with a monkey doll, eating a banana with the support of his grandma, his hospital board with loving messages from family members, his parents kissing him. Ulises’s father left his work at an Indio market in the spring after being unable to attend all of the boy’s treatments. His mother had been disabled in a deadly car accident years ago, rendering her unable to work. With just $780 each month in Social Security supplements, providing for the family and transportation to all of Ulises’ treatments was difficult. The young boy and his family received an outpouring of support in recent weeks from readers, family, friends and neighbors, with dozens of messages pouring in through the newspaper, his Facebook page and other venues. Corky Bell, executive director of the Debbie Chisholm foundation, set up a GoFundMe account in late October that has so far raised $2,130 for the family. Bell said they are still accepting donations, and all the money will go toward the family for whatever they need. The organization, a wish-granting nonprofit serving Riverside and San Bernardino counties for 20 years, met Ulises while delivering toys to Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital and granted his wish. “We had visited there several times. Just a sweet little guy. It’s just awful,” Bell said. “We knew he was not going to survive. We just wanted to give him a good day before he passed.” They also had planned to hold an early Christmas gift delivery — including a Santa Claus appearance and police escorts — for Ulises and his family last Tuesday, but the event was canceled after he was admitted back to Loma Linda in grave condition. Now that Ulises is gone, the family is asking for help to bury him and mourn him with a funeral. The cost is almost $2,000, a large expense for the Durans. They have scheduled the service for Dec. 2.
Posted on: Thu, 27 Nov 2014 02:23:20 +0000
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