Maria

I am Gabriel Elias, father of 3 beautiful children and husband of the most amazing wife. Sometimes we go through life without noticing the little moments, but that all changed this year. My whole life shattered when Maria, my wife of 12 years, my HS sweetheart and the mother of a 12-year-old superhero lover and two baby girls, fell suddenly ill.

To us, 2018 seemed like a promising year. We started the year doing well with our business and with the most significant news of all: becoming parents again. I dreamed about my beautiful baby girl being born, waking up  and wishing she would look like her mom. But as the beginning of 2018 brought us the happiness of being parents again, it also brought us horrible news.

Maria had nausea and lost some weight at the beginning of her pregnancy, all typical symptoms of the first trimester. As her little bump grew, she felt somewhat better, had discomfort and felt weak, but it all felt like it was just the usual stuff.

Maria just turned 30, and she tried to plan this year carefully. For Halloween, we were all preparing to be family of monsters and give out candy to the neighborhood kids. As she was cleaning and doing the dishes from dinner, she started feeling painful cramps and showing signs of labor. We immediately rushed to the hospital and were faced with a whole other diagnosis, leukemia.

Because Maria is Hispanic, her most likely donor will be Hispanic.
Please register as a stem cell donor in Maria’s name https://join.bethematch.org/MariaBeatsall