Indio teen battling leukemia continues fighting for his dream to graduate high school
Four years ago, the world of 17-year-old Christopher Balbuena Ambrocio and his family were changed forever.
During his winter break in 2016, Christopher was injured in a dirt bike accident. The crash caused the young teen to suffer an infected blister that caused internal bleeding. While he was being treated, doctors noticed there was something else wrong with his body.
After multiple studies, Ambrocio was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL). ALL means cancer cells in Christopher's body are affecting his blood, bone marrow, and thus targets the development of his white blood cells.
"I cried, I cried, why... why... why my son," Christopher's mother, Eulalia Pantoja, told Telemundo 15's Marco Revuelta.
For the remainder of his 8th-grade year, Christopher would travel back and forth between school and Loma Linda Children's Hospital for chemotherapy and radiation sessions.
"With this disease, he kept studying. He said, 'I'm going to graduate, mom,'" Pantoja said.
Christopher's cancer went into remission just in time for the start of his freshman year at Indio High School. He was fine and healthy going through high school, but he started experiencing health issues again in March 2020.
The teen had a growing infection in his hand, which was treated, but a MRI & CT Scan in July 2020 revealed that he didn't just have leukemia, but cancer infected his spinal cord.
Christopher needed more than just pharmaceutical treatments to combat the two cancers, he needed a bone marrow transplant and he found his donor, his 14-year-old brother David.
"He said, 'I'm going to save my brother, I'm going to save him.' Thank God he was the donor," Pantoja said.
The bone marrow transplant was a success, but unfortunately, Christopher suffered yet another setback.
During his recovery from the surgery, Christopher's mouth began to get blisters.
"The blisters became infected without anyone realizing it was a fungus. Since the blisters were in the mouth anything he consumed was then spreading the fungus to the rest of his body until it reached the brain," reads a post on a GoFundMe for Christopher.
Christopher was placed in a medically induced coma on Dec. 13 to allow doctors to combat the scarring in his brain.
"Doctors have repeatedly stated that the treatment to fight the fungus is so strong that if he was not in an induced coma Chris would die of the pain," reads the GoFundMe post.
Christopher is scheduled to woken up from the medically induced coma at the end of the year, but doctors aren't sure what the scarring of the brain tissues will do to Christopher and what limitations he could face.
But despite everything, Christopher has gone through his family, loved ones, and teachers await the day he can achieve his dream of graduating high school.
Laura Gautier, a translator at Indio High School, has known Christopher and his family for several years and has dedicated herself to look for help so the brave teen can graduate.
"I saw his constancy, his perseverance, his desire to graduate. His desire to wear that cape and that hat," Gautier said.
Loved ones recall Christopher's connect to his online classes, even on those days when he had little energy after fighting leukemia.
"For him, it was very important not to be marked absent," Gautier said.
Christopher's, remaining strong, continues to look ahead to a future with more hope for him.
"There is hope he opens his eyes little by little. It's something that makes me feel more comfortable knowing that Christopher is getting better. It's ok, he will be fine," Pantoja said.
Christopher has four brothers. Loved ones created a GoFundMe page to help the family during these hard times. If you would like to help, click here.
