Meet Malakai: A Kid Whose Dream Of Football Has Been Postponed

Meet Malakai! Malakai loves Judy from Zootopia, McDonald’s chicken nuggets and fries, the color orange and football! Malakai was diagnosed with High-Grade Diffuse Glioma: high-grade gliomas are tumors of the glial cells, cells found in the brain and spinal cord. They are called “high-grade” because the tumors are fast-growing and they spread quickly through brain tissue, which makes them hard to treat. The tumors occur in children of all ages, from infants to adults. In February 2021, the family was having a typical weekday morning when Malakai stood up, stared off into space, and started drooling. They rushed him to the emergency room but were unable to get a diagnosis. However, several additional episodes followed shortly thereafter, and his primary doctor recommended he see a specialist to get an MRI. Following the MRI, his mom, Candice, got a shocking generic notification from MyChart that said he had a “mass” in his brain. During this time, his mom, who was pregnant, suffered a miscarriage. After a second MRI, a 10-hour surgery was scheduled for a week later and about 2 weeks later, they received the news that he would need proton radiation. Malakai’s biological father passed away when he was only 2 years old. He is currently undergoing treatment and misses being able to get together with his friends, playing football, and being with his teammates and coaches. When RBM of Alpharetta and Mercedes-Benz Stadium heard Malakai’s story- they teamed up with the Falcons to provide an awesome experience for Malakai so he can spend more time with his friends and teammates. This fall, Malakai and 15 of his besties are going to get treated to a home game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium- a fan first, world-class experience - for a Falcon’s game, and they’ll all have tickets in a private suite! RBM of Alpharetta is going all out with food and beverage inside the suite for the kiddos, so they never have to miss a play. And of course, we know our good pal Freddie Falcon loves Bert’s Big Adventure…he’s sure to swing by for some photo ops! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/the-bert-show. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices