He’s only two years old, but in his young life, Mattis Brodziak has already been facing a large battle.
Diagnosed with nephrotic syndrome in February, doctors at the Stollery Children’s Hospital in Edmonton began treating Mattis for kidney disease. After a few days, Mattis was able to return home to St. Paul, as it appeared the treatments were successful and the disease had gone into remission.
But, in mid-March, Mattis was sent back to the Stollery hospital with other serious symptoms. Doctors have since been working hard to help the little boy get better, running rounds of tests, and hoping to find an underlying cause of the new symptoms.
“We don’t have any answers yet,” says Matthew Brodziak, Mattis’ dad. He says a team of specialists has been working to help his son get better and to figure out what’s happening.
Since Mattis’ health took a turn for the worse, both Matthew and his wife, Kim, have taken time off work to be at their son’s side. Both their employers – E-Can and the County of St. Paul – have been supportive as the Brodziak family works to bring Mattis home.
Last week, a few close family members took it upon themselves to help, through “prayer and positive encouragement,” while also raising funds to support the family and reduce the amount of stress.
A GoFundMe page was started Tuesday morning, and quickly the amount of support shown for the Brodziak family began to swell. Matthew and Kim found out about the page around noon that same day, and watched as it was shared hundreds of times on social media.
Matthew admits it was “unbelievable” to see the support shown for his family.
“We were just baffled. We could not believe the amount of support . . . it was very emotional,” he says.
While family and friends known to Matthew and Kim offered financial support through the page, there was also a growing number of people the family didn’t know that was stepping up to help.
“It’s incredible,” says Matthew.
In about one day, the GoFundMe page reached its goal of collecting $10,000. Within two days, $15,580 was raised by 111 people, making it one of the fastest growing campaigns of the week on the platform, according to GoFundMe.
He agrees that knowing the family has support from the community will help reduce the amount of stress facing them, as he and his wife stay by their son’s side as much as possible. He notes that right now, they are unsure of how long their son will remain in hospital.
“Kim and Matthew are two of the hardest workers we know,” states the GoFundMe page. “They work diligently to provide for their family, and would give much to help others. Although they would never complain, we don’t want them to have to worry about it. We’ve got their back.”
Another show of support offered to the family has come from the St. Paul Boys and Girls Club. Prior to Mattis becoming sick, he and his older brother, Nyxon, both attended the daycare at the club.
When Mattis went into remission, but was still under a strict diet, the club was very accommodating, says Matthew. And since Mattis has been in hospital, the club has continued to offer the support needed, as Nyxon continues to attend the daycare regularly.
“They’ve been absolutely awesome,” says Matthew.
The GoFundMe page set up in support of the Brodziak family can be accessed at www.gofundme.com/healingbynumberformattis or by searching “Power of Healing by Numbers: Mattis.”
