Brent beats the odds

After a Mishawaka family learned their little boy, 5-year-old Brent Sheehan was diagnosed with with Neuroblastoma, they were told Brent wouldn’t make it to his 5th birthday. On Saturday, ABC 57 News got an invite to his 5th birthday party.

Brent Sheehan may look like a regular 5-year-old eating too much sugar on his birthday but life hasn’t always been this sweet.

“I could see all of his ribs and his spine like within a week,” says Jakie Davis, Brent’s mother. “But his stomach was still really big. The tumor was his whole stomach, it was the size of a cantaloupe. It was huge."

Brent and his family temporarily moved into their second home at Peyton Manning Children’s Hospital in Indianapolis.

“We weren’t home for Mother’s Day, we weren’t home for Christmas,” says Davis.

Now, she has to deal with a loss of income.

“My leave of absence with work is up in December. So, at the end of December I will lose my job.”

As these troubles weigh on Davis her family’s shoulders, Brent’s birthday party was a time to forget them for at least a little while.

“Ten months ago, we didn’t think he was going have a 5th birthday,” says Davis.

So, as this family learns not to take advantage of the little things like blowing out birthday candles, they also learn it’s their super hero “Xan-Man” that gives them strength.

“We’ll get through it like we do everything,” says Davis.

Brent will go back to Peyton Manning Children’s Hospital on October 12th for 6 months of Antibody Therapy.

The family has a GoFundMe account set up in case you would like to donate to help them with bills and care for Brent:

https://www.gofundme.com/isrfos

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