- Aedan Pio Pascual-Malvar is a budding 5-year-old painter
- He is one of the winners of the international Rare Artist competition, Kids category
- He suffers from chordoma, a rare type of cancerous tumor
- He needs to undergo proton beam therapy which costs about P11 million ($ 250,000) in the US
MANILA, Philippines – Five-year-old Aedan Pio Pascual-Malvar from Cainta, Rizal was diagnosed with chordoma; a rare type of cancerous tumor that can occur anywhere along the spine — from the base of the skull to the tailbone.
He was diagnosed with the dreaded tumor when he was four years old.
Photo Credit: Aedan Pio’s Fight for the Uncommon Facebook Page
His mother, Jesrora Marie Malvar said they were alarmed when Aedan Pio started having headaches and when his speech became slurred.
When they brought him to a medical institution for a check-up, both the surgeon and neurologist suspected he has a giant cell tumor.
In June last year, he became cross-eyed so they brought him to the ophthalmologist who advised them to do an MRI again.
On the Facebook page Aedan Pio’s Fight with the Uncommon, it was disclosed that the child was admitted to the Philippine General Hospital on July 4 of last year and he underwent craniotomy four days after.
40% of the tumor was removed but the biopsy revealed that Aedan Pio has chordoma and the possible treatment is proton beam therapy; an advanced form of radiation therapy that uses protons rather than traditional X-rays. It targets tumors and cancer cells more precisely.
Unfortunately, this treatment is not available in the Philippines.
In the United States, this will cost about P11 million ($ 250,000).
Aedan Pio is a budding painter who also aspires to become an astronaut. He loves to draw planets. In fact, he joined the Rare Artist competition and became one of the winners.
He was supposed to accept his award last March 3 during the Rare Disease Week on Capitol Hill in Washington DC, but he was unable to go and personally accept his award.
Photo Credit: Aedan Pio’s Fight for the Uncommon Facebook Page
He received a treat on March 14 when a friend took him and his Mom to the zoo and he said: “It was my first time to play and touch real animals!”
A GoFundMe page was set up to make the needed treatment possible — Help Aedan Pio Fight Chordoma.
He was featured on March 11 by ABS CBN’s Bandila:
Watch his story below:
This is his mother’s interview that was aired on Bandila last March 10.
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