A benefit comedy show and silent auction is planned for Sunday at 6:30 p.m. at the Screening Room (127 E. Congress Street) with all the proceeds going to 10-year-old Southwest Rams football player Xavi Santiago Goodman, who is battling cancer.
Doors will open at 6:30 p.m. for raffles and an auction. The first feature will take stage at 7 p.m.
Purchase tickets in advance by clicking here.
Xavier, who turned 10 years old on Sept. 19, loves space, science, video games and wants to work for NASA when he grows up. He loves spending time with his family.
“Xavi has such a kind heart, he constantly thinks of others before himself,” his cousin Leti Molina wrote on her Facebook page.
“As the summer came to an end we were getting ready for the new school year, Xavi was starting 4th grade at Drexel Elementary (also his 2nd year in the Sunnyside SUN program), We were also beginning our second year with the Southwest Rams football & cheer,” Molina wrote.
“Xavier was overall a healthy kid, didn’t get sick very often. He had been complaining of stomach aches, we attributed those to him eating too much junk food/not enough water (the “usual” things that cause a stomach ache). It got to a point where he was complaining of a stomach ache daily. Unaware of what was really going on he continued to go to school and football practice, even when he was having “stomach aches”.
“We made an appointment with his primary care doctor but two days before his appointment he began having pain when we even touched his stomach. We brought him into Emergency at St. Mary’s hospital, after they did an ultrasound they had us transferred to Banner UMC. The scans showed that Xavi has a large mass on his spleen and numerous masses across his liver and pancreas.
“Due to the pressure from the masses it has caused numerous varices in his stomach, these cause a very high risk of bleeding. Finally after 3 weeks he’s been diagnosed with “Poorly differentiated Carcinoma w/ Neuroendocrine features”, the cancer we are dealing with is not only rare, but it’s rare in children. Xavi’s case is pretty severe and we have a long road ahead of us. We would like to thank everyone for their support and prayers during this difficult time.”
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