‘It doesn’t make any sense’: Whitby infant battles aggressive brain cancer

Rory Pascal O’Connor is a little boy fighting a mighty battle.

Just two weeks ago, Rory’s mother, Pauline, says the 18-month-old’s health began to deteriorate and the active little boy no longer had any energy to do the activities that once brought him so much joy.

“Whenever we tried to get him to sit up, he would just fall over,” Pauline said.

The Whitby family visited multiple doctors, who told them Rory had a cold or an adverse reaction to a recent vaccine.

But his problems never went away. It forced his parents to take him to SickKids Hospital in Toronto, where they received the heartbreaking truth about what their son was really experiencing.

“They found a tumour in his brain and they need to do surgery on him right away because the fluid was building up in his brain,” his mother said.

Rory was diagnosed with a rare, aggressive tumour called atypical teratoid rhabdoid that doctors say can spread very quickly.

The infant was rushed into surgery to drain the fluid from his brain and is preparing for another operation to remove the tumour, all as he continues to undergo chemotherapy.

“It doesn’t make any sense to me,” said Pauline, tears in her eyes.

“He’s always been pretty advanced for his milestone development, he said ‘dada’ as his first word in six months.”

As Rory fights for his life, Pauline and her husband Mike remain by his side. While they don’t know the little boy’s future, they remain hopeful for a miracle.

“We’re just hopeful he makes it and he’s an inspiration to everybody to fight this”

A GoFundMe has been set up to raise money for accommodations and other needs for the family to be with Rory around the clock.

As of Friday afternoon, the online fundraiser reached more than $50,000, soaring past the initial goal of $5,000.

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