Eleven-year-old Kai Quinonez of Rossmoor has had the battle of a lifetime in the last three years but it looks like he’s coming out victorious. The young boy is coming back from Apastic Anemia, a life threatening illness which strikes one in a million children causing bone marrow failure.
After several rounds of chemotherapy and blood transfusions, Kai is finally in a partial remission, according to his father, Gus. “His red and white cell counts are normal,” he said. “We are just waiting for his platelets to come up.”
No longer on any medications, Kai is full of color and energy. He is not just a survivor but is also living up to his full potential by taking part in junior lifeguards at Seal Beach along with his 13-year-old brother, Klaus, complete with plenty of running, swimming and a jump from the pier. It seems befitting of the boy who admires comic book heroes.
“It’s like he wants to give back,” said Gus. “He hasn’t been able to participate in team sports but junior lifeguards were the closest thing to being on a team.” Kai finished junior lifeguards last week with jumping from the Seal Beach pier, not just once, but five times. He said it was scary but fun.
The boy was once more restricted in his physical activities, and couldn’t play any contact sports for fear of internal hemorrhaging, cardiac arrest and due to a weaken immune system. But now Kai looks forward to playing flag football and starting a new school year, anticipating he won’t miss out on much since he’ll be able to attend regularly.
The now 5th grade Hopkinson elementary student was in and out of the hospital several times for the last few years, missing out on school. But Kai’s teachers made sure he was learning, working with him while he was out.
“He can’t wait for school and being with other kids,” said Kai’s mother, Beth. “He has so much more appreciation for school after having missed it for two years.”
In gratitude to Kia’s teachers and school, his father is organizing the 2nd annual School Ghoul event on Sunday, Oct. 20, complete with a 5K and 10K run for adults, and a 1K run for children. All proceeds go to benefit Los Alamitos School PTA’s and the Los Alamitos Education Foundation.
“It’s a legacy we want to have every year,” said Gus, who founded the run last year and is an award winning runner himself. “We are happy the community can come together.”
The event will feature a pancake breakfast, vendors and sponsors with a fall festival atmosphere along with the runs through Rossmoor.
“We will be having a mini-expo the day before the race and expo with vendor booths the day of the event,” said Gus. If you are interested in being a vendor, sponsor or volunteer to the event, you can go online to www.schoolghoullosalamitos.com.