A two-year-old boy from Sudbury, Ont., whose debilitating kidney disease has forced him to spend his entire life living in Toronto, is finally getting the surgery he needs so he can go home.
Taylum Lamoureux was born with a rare form of polycystic kidney disease. Hours after his birth, he was transported to Toronto鈥檚 Hospital for Sick Children. And since then, he鈥檚 needed daily dialysis treatment at the hospital.
Only one in four babies with Taylum鈥檚 condition survive, and the toddler has already undergone more than 1,000 hours of hemodialysis and nine surgeries.
The daily medical requirements have forced Taylum and his mother, Desiree, to live in Toronto full-time.
Taylum鈥檚 father, Darren, has continued to work 12-hour shifts as an electrician in Sudbury -- a four-hour drive away -- so the family can pay bills and hold onto health insurance.
The separation, the constant back-and-forth travel and, of course, Taylum鈥檚 health problems, have put a strain on the family.
But now, thanks to an anonymous donor, that is expected to change.
Taylum is scheduled to receive a new kidney on May 13. A successful surgery would allow the toddler to stop his daily treatments in Toronto and go home to Sudbury.
"It is all due to the love and kindness of a perfect stranger who volunteered to be tested as a match for Taylum," said Tammy Jutila, a friend of the Lamoureux family.
In Sudbury, the community has been preparing a warm welcome for the two-year-old.
Jutila, a teacher, and her students are part of a group of residents fundraising to build a playset for Taylum. The group also wants to make a donation to Ronald McDonald House, where Desiree and Taylum have been living in Toronto.
To raise the money, schools and businesses around the city are selling temporary tattoos that read "I'm in Taylum鈥檚 tribe." The fundraiser organizers are encouraging supporters to take a photo of themselves wearing the tattoo on the day of Taylum鈥檚 surgery, before so that the Lamoureux family can see how many people care about them.
"In the future, I think it鈥檒l be wonderful to show Taylum how many people were touched by his story," Desiree told CTV Northern Ontario.
It鈥檚 not the first time community members have pitched in to help the family. In December, the Ontario Toyota Dealers Wishmaker campaign for $25,000 and a new 2015 Toyota Corolla. And in April, when living arrangements became uncertain, Torontonians stepped up and offered the family a place to stay.
Overall, Desiree said she is grateful for all the people who have pitched in to help her son get healthy and come home.
"We have been very moved by the love and support we have been shown by the City of Toronto and beyond," the toddler's mother told CTVNews.ca in April.
