We never think something like cancer will happen to us, until it does.

Luca was a healthy kid, who ate organic fruits and vegetables, preferred real food over junk food, and practiced sports. He was a happy child living in a loving home, attending a great school, he was mentally and emotionally happy, surrounded by friends and family.

At the age of 6 years old, Luca started with a nose congestion that seemed like a common cold or allergies. But instead of getting better after a few weeks, it was getting worse, blocking more of his airways each day, until he was not able to breathe through his nose at all, only breathing through his mouth. It turns out it was a polyp growing inside his nose cavity, caused by a Rhabdomyosarcoma, a very aggressive, fast growing and resistant type of cancer.

There are still a lot of unknowns about how cancer happens to healthy children, why out of nowhere some crazy cell mutation starts happening inside a kid's body.

Thanks to scientific research and doctors, nowadays we have better chances and many lives have been saved. However, we still need to find better treatments for difficult cancers like Rhabdomyosarcoma. Please consider joining us in this fight against cancer, in Honor of our Luca and his brave journey.

The name Luca means “bringer of light”. We teamed up with ALSF creating this Hero Fund so Luca's light can keep shining, helping future kids.

Luca fought bravely during 2 years of treatments. In the first year, the treatment seemed to be working, and Luca entered the maintenance phase. We were looking forward to going back to our "normal" life. But during the maintenance phase the cancer came back, more resistant and much more aggressive. We then started a journey of trying absolutely everything, more different chemotherapy protocols, more radiation therapy, clinical trials. But unfortunately, nothing was able to stop this cancer.

This journey is like a roller coaster between getting hopes high at each try, and then crushed news. We tried to always keep our faith and hope. But at each follow up scan during the treatment, the bad news came crushing everything, it seemed like living inside a nightmare. Still does. At the same time, we had to take deep breaths and keep strong, to continue living and enjoying life with little brother and Luca, who was feeling well besides all the treatments.

Luca was very strong, he handled all treatments well, of course we had bad days, but from what was expected, he was doing well overall. His doctors always said that looking at him on the outside and looking at the scans, it didn’t seem it was from the same person. During Radiation treatment, Luca would stay alone in the treatment room, awake, having to stay still, with a very tight mask covering his face and tied to the stretcher, at just the age of 6 years old. Many adults cannot do that.

Luca was fighting this thing hard, very hard. Children fighting cancer usually end up maturing a lot during the treatments, while they should just be enjoying life as a kid, doing what all other kids are doing. It's not easy at all.

Luca loved numbers, so here are some numbers fighting this cancer during 2 years of treatments: 2 surgeries; 5 different chemotherapy protocols (more than 170 infusions of chemotherapy medicines); 28 rounds of Protons Radiation Therapy; 3 months of daily oral chemotherapy; about 20 platelets/blood transfusions; another 25 rounds of Photons Radiation Therapy; lots of electrolytes transfusions; lots of supporting medicines.

All of this combined with a very healthy diet, and trying to keep life as normal as possible, going to school and events as much as possible, living life with joy, keeping Luca and the family in good spirits. 
Unfortunately, besides all of those efforts and treatments, sadly we couldn’t beat this cancer. We tried everything. 😢

So we would like to keep Honoring Luca's fight against Rhabdomyosarcoma, through this Hero Fund with ALSF, in the years to come. We will keep fighting for Luca and other kids, helping the scientists and doctors find a cure for this cancer, so in the future kids like Luca have a chance to grow up and live their lives to the fullest.

Our good-hearted boy didn’t have this chance. Luca was looking forward to being part of the Lego Robotics team, and he wanted to be a Computer or Space Engineer when he grew up. And a Dad... Luca always said he wanted to be a Dad in the future.

It breaks our hearts that Luca will not be able to live all of this, or to just have the chance to simply live! 💔

Luca was a sweet and kind boy, who loved being a big brother. Spending time with family, cousins and friends always made Luca happy. His favorite food was Brazilian barbecue, that would usually be followed by playing a board game with family. Music was one of his favorite things, especially Linkin Park and Avicii. Luca also loved playing the violin and singing in the school choir. Luca loved reading, was smart and curious about everything, and loved a math challenge. Now what Luca really loved most was his Pokemons and Videogames! With his treatments and hospital stays, playing Minecraft online with his best friends, or with Dad, was the best part of his day.

At the age of 8 years old, our sweet Luca made his passage to be with God in Heaven, in June of 2024, sleeping peacefully, without pain, being hugged by Mom and Dad. Hearing and feeling his breathing becoming weaker and weaker, until his last breath, was devastating. The pain of losing a son or a daughter is unbearable and doesn't get any better with time.

Luca was just a child with a big future ahead of him. We miss having Luca here with us. Sure we have many great memories, but not being able to create new memories with him is heartbreaking. Every day we are reminded of that, and our hearts ache even more. No family should go through this.

Please help us in this fight against Childhood Cancer! 💪

Thank you to Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation for the opportunity to keep Honoring Luca and his bravery. Thank you family and friends for all the support, love, thoughts and prayers throughout this journey. Thank you doctors and nurses for all your hard work. Thank you to those who are reading about Luca's journey and helping us in this fight. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts!

We love Luca and his little brother more than anything, we miss seeing our 2 sons playing together.

Luca will be forever with us, in our minds, in our thoughts and in our hearts. Forever.