RIO RANCHO, N.M. —
At 13 years old, Zayden Graves has been through a lot compared to children his age.
The Rio Rancho kid loves video games and knows how to power through difficult situations.
This past summer, Zayden was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma, stage 4, for the second time.
"August of 2022, he was running a fever on and off. We had taken him to the doctors, and they said, well, you know, we should do some blood work," Victoria Scaltrito, Zayden's mom, said. "His red blood cell count was really low, so they told us go to the emergency room. When we got to the ER, they did some further testing and they did a scan on his chest."
Doctors did a biopsy and confirmed it was Hodgkin's Lymphoma, stage 4.
Zayden underwent five rounds of chemo and 24 rounds of radiation. Six months went by and things were great, until this summer.
"It was around August of this year that we found out that his cancer had came back," Scaltrito said. "Within a month, the masses had doubled in size. We had to start treatment right away."
Right now, Zayden is doing pre-chemo at UNM Hospital before traveling to Colorado, where he will do a high-dose chemo and a bone marrow transplant. Zayden will be in complete isolation for at least three to six months. His entire family is uprooting their life to be by his side every step of the way.
"I was never really going ahead, and I was never a big fan of needles. I never was a big fan of any doctors," Zayden told KOAT. "But thankfully, this treatment, everything that I've gone through is a huge eye opener, and I'm thankful for how we've gotten here."
Once a classmate of Zayden's heard what he was up against, she decided she needed to help.
"I said, 'Hey, I'm going to take it upon myself,'" Mila Franco said. "At the coffee shop, let's just raise tips for him."
Mila asked for donations while working the coffee stand at the Railyards Market, donating roughly $200 to Zayden.
"I would want to help a classmate or anyone in any way I can. I've always seen other people happy, and I just like to help people in particular," Mila said.
But the kindness doesn't stop there. Mila's dad, Fred Franco, owns Born & Raised Clothing Co., a local clothing business.
"I'm a designer. I'm an artist. And so I wanted to play off of what Mila did and, you know, follow suit," Fred Franco said. "We actually partnered with Zayden, and he was the inspiration behind it all."
The duo designed a shirt with Zayden's motto on the front: always keep hope, never give up.
"I've always been saying that pretty much since I was actually in the hospital whenever I used to get asked by any of the doctors or anything," Zayden said.
On the sleeve is a shield from The Legend of Zelda because Zayden is a gamer. In that shield are his initials and the cancer ribbon.
Graves family
Mila and Zayden pose in shirts designed to support his cancer battle.
"We're donating 70% of the proceeds to him. The other 30% will go towards being able to buy more T-shirts and more supplies to keep the project alive," Fred Franco said. "If this takes us, a year, two years, three years, we're in it for the long haul. "
The Graves family was shocked by the kindness.
"I was flabbergasted. It's so sweet that she's she thought of doing that for him," Scaltrito said, holding back tears. "The fact that they think for each other and they have such big hearts, it makes you proud of the parents, it's your child that chooses to do that."
Zayden heads to Colorado in January. At just 13, Zayden is beyond his years, offering advice to those struggling with cancer or fighting for their lives.
"Never give up hope. You always think of the positives and not the downside. You always think what's going to happen afterwards. You always think fully positive. You never let your thoughts get to you. You always trying to keep your hope up," Zayden said.
Fred Franco
To learn more about Zayden or to donate to his fight, click here.
To purchase one of his shirts, click this link.
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