Karla Osuna hasn't had much to laugh about in recent times as her 11-year-old son Brandy suffered from brain tumors that caused seizures so bad that he would cry out in pain.
“It was hard. It was like the hardest thing in my life," Osuna said. "I would see him in constant pain ... it would drive me crazy."
Last month, the John Marshall Elementary fifth-grader underwent a six-hour surgery at Rady Children's Hospital. Osuna said doctors successfully removed most of the low-grade gliomas that had spread to critical parts of his brain.
Following that good news, was some unexpected joy last week thanks to Love City Heights, a nonprofit with a mission to lift up San Diego's under-served communities. On Friday, the organization surprised the Osunas with about 25 bags of food and toys.
Love City Heights is primarily known for its public art projects and was already installing brightly colored murals at John Marshall Elementary when Emily Mongeon, a counselor at the school, told the organization about the Osunas.
"My hope is that they feel loved and supported and I think that was achieved here today," Mongeon said. "I just want them to have some normalcy because the past year and especially the past few months have been anything but normal."
Karla Osuna says she feels thankful for the community support.
“It's wonderful that like there's people that are willing to help you ... to bring you joy, you know and I mean?" Osuna said. "It's wonderful ... just having humans out there like somebody just to even give you a hug."
The best news is that Brandy hasn't experienced any seizures since his surgery last month.
