A global pandemic made an impossible situation for a Medford family even harder

BOSTON — Elias, a 5-year-old kindergartner, was diagnosed with cancer 7 months ago. It was in his liver.

After surgery and chemo, doctors thought he was clear. But a month later, it returned.

“He started sleeping a lot more. And when he was awake he was complaining of a lot of pain in his abdomen area,” Root said.

Elias’ condition went downhill fast.

In a matter of days, he was back in the hospital. The cancer had metastasized throughout his body.

“There’s been less than 200 cases of this kind of cancer in history. Your chances of getting hit by lightning are higher than getting this,” Root said. “I don’t know how many days I have left with my baby and we already have to start talking about planning his end of life, so we were living in our own bubble.”

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For about a month the family has been living on the sixth floor of Boston Children’s Hospital as doctors work to stabilize Elias.

The outbreak of the coronavirus meant the family could have no visitors, the family completely cut off from their network of support.

"In the beginning, I was just reaching out a bunch on the internet and friends because I just needed that love and support,” Root said. “I was like, oh my god, we can’t do this alone.”

People responded.

“Something like a small child with terminal cancer, it just touches people hearts and they want to help,” she said.

Police officers and fire fighters all across greater Boston sent photos supporting Elias. Then came photos from Frontier Airlines and those came from all over the world.

"And I would show the pictures and videos to my son. And he was lying there. And even though he couldn't interact that much, he could see it and I could sort of see his eyes light up," Root said.

It was the support the family needed and continues to need.

“I just keep telling him, a lot of people are thinking about you,” she said. “You’re a hero. We love you. You’re not alone.”

Valerie hopes Elias’s story will raise awareness about and inspire more funding for research for rare and devastating cancers.

She says her son always had such a sense of community and love for his friends that it only made sense the community would reach out to him in this way.

She said police departments from Medford, Cambridge, Watertown, Wakefield, Tewksbury and Dover have responded, in addition to Andover State Police and Mass. State Police at the airport, along with MassPort and the transportaiton authority.

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