The Marblehead Metropolitan Council for Educational Opportunity (METCO) Parent Council Organization (PCO) created a GoFundMe fundraiser to support Village School sixth grader I’Zayah Thomas, who had an unexpected medical crisis.
I’Zayah’s mom, Danielle Thomas, said he had an arteriovenous malformation (AVM), “which is a malfunction in his blood vessel that caused him to have a stroke” on April 24. He was originally seeking care at Boston Children’s Hospital but has recently transitioned to a rehabilitation center in Boston.
“He lost feeling on his left side, so rehab is just to help him because he had to have emergency surgery to remove a blood clot and also clean up the blood vessel where it had burst,” Danielle said. She added that I’Zayah’s treatment includes physical therapy and occupational therapy “to help him be able to start moving his left arm and be able to walk again.”
Danielle emphasized that I’Zayah is now “doing great.” She said there was “some pushback, but that’s to be expected. Overall, he’s doing great.” When asked about him, 12-year-old I’Zayah said he likes “games, soccer and animals.”
Marblehead METCO PCO’s fundraiser – which can be found here: tinyurl.com/help-izayah – has raised just shy of $17,000 so far and is inching closer toward the $20,000 goal.
Danielle said, “I’m very thankful for the outreach and the support because honestly, I’m the type of person who’s just going to figure it out how I can, and I”m not a person who generally asks for help.”
She added that it was those who created the fundraiser who created the hashtag It Takes A Village, seen as #ItTakesAVillage on social media, for I’Zayah and that she “greatly appreciates” the community support right now, as she has been focusing primarily on “helping my son get better and being there for him.”
“It makes me feel really great to know that there are still good people out here in the world,” Danielle said. “For me, it’s not about the money aspect of it. It’s about all the support they’re giving I’Zayah and getting well wishes and things like that.”
She added that the messages, videos and cards I’Zayah has received help him stay motivated on his recovery journey so he can get back to school and be around his friends again soon.
“It puts a smile on his face to know that everybody’s rooting for him,” Danielle said.
