Young Boy Wins Fight to Live Thanks to Loma Linda Charity and Loma Linda Medical Center

What better way to say goodbye than with some pizza and an Ontario Reign hockey game?

Judging from the smile on 11-year-old Byron Magezi’s face, it was a pretty good ending to a long journey that took a terrifying trip to Loma Linda University Medical Center’s emergency room.

On March 30, young Byron and his mother, Ada Magezi, were the guests of honor at a goodbye pizza party organized by the Steven’s Hope for Children Inc., a nonprofit organization that provides long-term housing to families with ill children who have extended treatments at local hospitals.

The group allows families use of an apartment, allowing the entire family unit to stay together, said Tony Cappelli, president and co-founder of Steven’s Hope.

“We want to provide a place for the family, the parent and the sick child to stay together,” Cappelli said.

For Ada Magezi, the organization provided a sense of security during an uncertain time. The family came to California from their native Uganda in December to escort their oldest son to college at La Sierra University. They planned to leave Jan. 8, but Byron became ill.

“He was really ill,” said Ada Magezi, Byron’s mother. “We looked for a hospital on the Internet and came across Loma Linda.”

That started an ordeal that led the family from a short stint at the Ronald McDonald House to a longer stay with Steven’s Hope Charity. The charity, based in Upland, has apartments in Loma Linda.

The family was able to stay at the apartment for two months.

“We really believe that if you have a family working as a unit,” Cappelli said. “If you have a family together as a unit … the child will do better, the family will do better as a unit."

That Wednesday, Byron had finished his treatment at the medical center. The family was preparing to return to Uganda on Saturday.

For more information on Byron, check out the video.