This time last year, a Florida family’s life was turned upside down. Months later they ended up in Philadelphia.
“When we heard about cancer, we were like, ‘Oh my God,’” Jeno Sanchez said of learning his son, Zayden, had cancer. “We were devastated.”
Cancer is what brought the Sanchez family to Philadelphia.
“We came with a suitcase and we just arrived,” said Eva Castro-Sanchez, Zayden’s mother. “We ended up in CHOP.”
In April, Zayden and his mother, Eva, were medically flown from Florida to the City of Brotherly Love. The teenager was struggling with leukemia.
“I just remember grabbing him and holding him,” Castro-Sanchez said, “and telling him I would never leave him alone.”
That meant finding a place to live. The Philadelphia Ronald McDonald House quickly became Castro-Sanchez’s home base.
“It’s hard for me not to call it home,” Castro-Sanchez said. “That just speaks to the way they treat people here.”
Sanchez and Zayden’s 5-year-old sister, Ava, joined Castro-Sanchez in July.
While home physically looks different for the Sanchez family, the Ronald McDonald House on Chestnut Street feels the same way.
“As soon as I walk through those doors, I feel a sigh of relief,” Sánchez said.
From hot meals and a warm bed to family activities and education for Ava, the Sanchez family feels like all their attention can remain on their two children.
Remember when Castro-Sanchez said she promised her son she would be there every step of the way? In August she became his donor for a bone marrow transplant.
As Zayden grows stronger at CHOP, Castro-Sanchez, Sanchez and Ava cheer him on.
“We are not giving up,” Sánchez said. “We help each other.”
Zayden’s adoptive family at the Ronald McDonald House does the same.
“I would say it’s the biggest and warmest hug ever,” Castro-Sanchez said. “This is what it feels like to be here.”
Zayden is a black belt in taekwondo and hopes to compete again one day.
The family is expected to stay at the Ronald McDonald House through February.
Be part of the village that helps make Ronald McDonald House Charities a home away from home. And don’t forget to tune in telethon on CBS Philadelphia on November 21.
Visit to learn more and donate now RMHC.org.
