INDIANAPOLIS — Giving Tuesday is a day to support organizations in need after you've finished your holiday shopping.
WTHR is proud to support Riley Hospital for Children and the Riley Children's Foundation.
One family knows what it's like to receive, thanks to the generosity of others, and wants to give other families hope.
Little Leo Galvez is happy, loving and resilient.
"We knew that he was going to have a lengthy hospital stay," said Luis Galvez, Leo's father.
Leo has been a part of the Riley family since he was born.
"Basically, Leo has a different chromosomal translocation than we do and the only difference is he has, like pieces missing from one chromosome and has like a little extra on the other, so it affects him medically and also in his developmental ways," said Cinthia Galvez, Leo's mother.
And now, he has a growing online family, of sorts.
"Leo is about to hit 1,000 followers on TikTok, so he is building up an amazing community," Cinthia said.
Cinthia and Luis love to share "Brave Little Leo's" story on TikTok. His milestones are celebrated among the rare disease community that relates to Leo's "day in the life" stories, and educates those that don't.
"In the beginning, it was just me posting kind of like my diary of Leo, and people started reaching out and messaging me about him, so he has followers from like all over," said Cinthia.
Leo is doing all the things typical toddlers would do, just while using some extra equipment.
"He likes to go on walks around the neighborhood, different parks," Luis said.
His parents look forward to getting back to more activities outside of his home therapy. That's sometimes challenging, as Leo is now facing another health hurdle.
"What we thought was going to be normal cold ended up being a tumor in his kidney," said Luis. "Within the last couple of weeks he started chemotherapy."
Leo was nominated as a Riley Champion by the very staff that has been there for him since he was in the NICU. They're confident brave little Leo will overcome this challenge, too.
"We were worried about how he would handle it, having the tracheostomy and with all of his other conditions, but Leo is just ... he will go down one day, but he will come back just as happy the next day," Luis said. "He's a strong little boy."
His parents say Leo is in good spirits. They are grateful for the support and donations helping Leo through his care.
Click here to learn more about the Riley Children's Foundation's year-end giving campaign.