He’s a cop who works three additional part-time jobs to make ends meet. She’s a homemaker now, taking care of their three children, ages seven, three and a half, and 21 months. Normal, everyday people, living normal everyday lives.
Except they’re not—Brian and Tina Merryman are extraordinary in so many ways. You see, their oldest son, seven-year-old Matthew, was diagnosed with brain cancer when he was just an infant. He has survived:
- Nine brain surgeries,
- Multiple rounds of chemo,
- An astounding 31 radiation sessions.
Through it all, his inspiring spirit has kept the family going.
But it’s been difficult. Despite the support of their community, who have rallied to help raise funds for Matthew’s care, the medical bills continue to mount.
And, as if that wasn’t enough, one side effect of the treatments Matthew’s received over the years is dystonia.
Dystonia is a disorder in which the brain signals that control voluntary/involuntary muscle movement get scrambled; it causes your muscles to sometimes spasm and twist out of control and can be extremely painful. There are three main types of dystonia:
- Idiopathic, meaning the cause is unknown
- Genetic, where a gene with a specific mutation is passed along through families
- Acquired, caused by damage to the brain
Little Matthew has acquired dystonia, which developed fairly recently.
His family has high hopes of having special electrodes surgically implanted in his brain—a procedure known as deep brain stimulation—will help him return to walking and playing as normal.
Over the summer of 2015, the family’s community of Frederick, Maryland organized several fundraisers to help the family with medical bills, including a crowdrise online fundraising page.
You can read more about the Merryman’s story in their local paper, and to learn about ways to help pay for treatment and care–or how you can help families in need–visit these sites:
