When Gryffin was born, he came into the world with a light that was impossible to miss.
From his first cries, his parents felt something extraordinary — a kind of quiet strength that seemed far too powerful for such a tiny body.
No one could have imagined that, just seven days after his birth, that same child would begin a journey that would test the limits of human endurance and love.
Gryffin’s first diagnosis came like a storm out of a clear blue sky.
Eye cancer — the kind of words no parent should ever hear.
But even in the sterile rooms filled with machines and fear, Gryffin smiled.
His laughter, soft and unshaken, became the light that guided his family through every long night.
For years, his parents learned to live between hospital visits and moments of hope.
They celebrated the small victories — a clear scan, a playful afternoon, a meal shared without the taste of medicine in the air.
When doctors finally said the word remission, it felt like life was being handed back to them.
For fourteen beautiful months, Gryffin was cancer-free.
He played with his big brother, built towers out of blocks, and talked about the construction trucks he loved so much.
His parents dared to breathe again.
Then, on April 28, 2025, everything changed.
During what was supposed to be a routine checkup, the doctors found something.
Not in his eye this time, but deep within — a second cancer.
Pineoblastoma.
Stage IV.
No known cure.
It was the kind of diagnosis that makes the world stop spinning.
But Gryffin’s family refused to give up.
There were new studies, his oncologist explained — experimental data showing that one-year survival rates had recently increased from 10% to 30%.
It wasn’t much, but to them, it was hope.
With guidance from his doctor at Mayo Clinic, they began the treatment — three rounds of induction chemo, two rounds of high-dose chemo with stem cell transplants, and now, a third and final round.
Each phase brought pain and exhaustion, but Gryffin never lost his spark.
His nurses say he’s the one who cheers them up.
Even on the hardest days, when the world outside the hospital window seemed too far away, he’d tell jokes, smile, and ask for one more story before bedtime.
After this final chemo, the next step would be radiation — though that decision still hangs in the air.
With cancers like Gryffin’s, the doctors say, there is often only “one shot.”
If it returns, the treatments can’t be used again.
That’s the brutal truth they live with every day.
So, his family has made a promise.
Once this phase is over, they’ll spend their time
living, not just fighting.
They’ll chase sunsets instead of test results.
They’ll take Gryffin and his brother on adventures, laugh more, and fill their days with the kind of memories cancer can never erase.
Because Gryffin isn’t just surviving — he’s teaching everyone around him what living really means.
He has a big brother, just four years old, who thinks Gryffin is a superhero.
Together, they turn hospital hallways into racetracks and chemo chairs into forts.
Their laughter echoes louder than the beeping machines.
And when Gryffin talks about his wish — his face lights up.
Through Make-A-Wish, he dreams of visiting Diggerland in New Jersey, where he can drive real construction trucks.
He also wants to stay at the “Home Alone” hotel in New York City — the same one from his favorite Christmas movie.
If his health allows, his family hopes to make that wish come true next summer.
💛 Because every child deserves a dream, even in the middle of the fight of their life.
But like so many families walking this path, Gryffin’s parents are exhausted — not just emotionally, but financially.
Both work full-time and take turns caring for him.
They’ve faced uncovered medical expenses that would break most families.
Just two days of appointments this year, including an MRI, brought a bill of more than $8,000 after insurance.
And Gryffin doesn’t qualify for Medicaid in Iowa because of household income.
So they turned to GoFundMe — not out of choice, but necessity.
Because no parent should have to choose between saving their child and paying a bill.
Tori’s Angels, an organization in Iowa, stepped in to help with some future medical expenses — mileage, meals during hospital stays, medications, and hotel costs.
That support has been a lifeline, giving Gryffin’s parents the freedom to focus on what really matters — being there for their boy.
They’ve also set up a line of T-shirts and sweatshirts — Gryffin’s Power Squad — where part of every purchase goes to support his treatment.
Every time someone wears one, it’s like saying, “You’re not fighting alone.”
Because the truth is, this isn’t just one family’s story — it’s a testament to the strength of love, community, and faith.
Thousands of people across the world have followed Gryffin’s journey, sending messages, prayers, and donations.
Each one is a small miracle.
And through it all, Gryffin keeps smiling.
He keeps laughing.
He keeps fighting.
His spirit — that unbreakable, radiant light — continues to remind the world that even in the darkest battles, hope is still undefeated.
At Just Two Years Old, Jah’Siah Has Spent His Life on Dialysis and Needs a Miracle.1719
A mother’s warning carries a weight that no one can ignore.
Her baby boy is fighting for his life, and she is running out of options.
Two-year-old Jah’Siah Neal has never known a day of freedom from machines.
Since birth, he has been tethered to dialysis for 12 hours a day.
He was born with only one kidney, and now even that single kidney has failed.
What he faces today is end-stage kidney failure.
For most people, those words are medical terms.
For his mother, Shauntrice Boozer, they are a living nightmare.
She watches her little boy suffer every single day.
She watches him hooked up to tubes instead of playing with toys.
She watches him grow weaker when he should be growing stronger.
She sees the toll it takes on his small body, but also on the entire family.
And yet, she says, to most people, the trauma remains invisible.
No one sees the hours of dialysis that drain him.
No one sees the exhaustion in his tiny frame.
No one feels the ache of leaving him behind just to go to work and keep the lights on.
Shauntrice describes her reality in words no mother should ever have to write:
“I watch him be sick all day every day. I have to leave him and go to work to pay bills and afford gas to travel to appointments. I feel alone and hopeless. All I ask is that we be seen and heard.”
Her plea is raw.
Her heart is breaking.
And yet, she keeps showing up, every single day, because her son needs her strength.
Jah’Siah’s fight is not only against kidney failure.
It is against the silence that often surrounds families like his.
It is against the invisibility of illnesses that people do not understand.
And it is against the loneliness that comes when you feel forgotten.
But his mother will not allow him to be forgotten.
She is raising her voice for him.
She is begging for awareness, compassion, and help.
For Jah’Siah, a kidney donor could mean the difference between life and death.
Until then, dialysis is his lifeline.
Every day, twelve long hours, his body is connected to a machine that does the work his kidney cannot do.
For a two-year-old, that is not just medical care — it is a childhood stolen.
While other children are running and laughing, Jah’Siah is enduring endless hours of treatment.
While other toddlers explore the world with curiosity, his world is limited by hospital visits, pain, and fatigue.
And yet, despite it all, his spirit shines.
He is still a little boy who smiles, who loves, who deserves the chance to live a full life.
His mother’s greatest fear is not the exhaustion, not the financial strain, not even the long hours of dialysis.
Her greatest fear is losing him.
And so, she fights with every ounce of strength she has.
She goes to work, pays the bills, drives to appointments, and then comes home to sit by his side, watching him sleep, praying over him, hoping for a miracle.
She says she feels alone.
But she does not want to give up.
She just wants to be seen.
She just wants to be heard.
And she wants the world to know that her son matters.
That his life matters.
That this fight is not just statistics or numbers, but a little boy who deserves to grow up.
Jah’Siah’s story is a call for awareness.
It is a plea for kidney donors.
It is a reminder that behind every diagnosis is a child, a family, and a love so deep it will not stop fighting.
His mother asks us to lift him up in prayer.
To share his story.
To offer compassion.
To bring light to an illness that often hides in the shadows.
They have already endured so much.
They continue to endure because they must.
But they cannot endure alone.
They need us.
They need community.
They need people willing to step forward, to care, to give, to pray.
Because Jah’Siah is only two years old.
He deserves the chance to be more than a patient.
He deserves the chance to be a child.
To laugh.
To run.
To live.
And with awareness, compassion, and a miracle, that chance might still come.
💔 Please keep Jah’Siah in your prayers.
Please share his story.
And please, if you are able, raise awareness for kidney donation — because his life depends on it.