A rare and potentially deadly medical condition has one Central Texas family fighting for their son's life.
An arteriovenus malformation or AVM is an abnormal connection between arteries and veins.
At just two years old, Brody Farmer has one in his brain, and his family is doing all they can to keep their toddler alive.
"All of his arteries and veins are clustered together, just a big mess, basically. And they said, I don't know what we should do about it, it's really deep in his brain," Brennan Overocker, Brody's mom, said.
Less then one percent of the world's population deals with this rare and dangerous medical condition.
"One day he can be fine, we can be sitting here playing, and then the next day, you know, or even that day, he could have a bleed and all of a sudden everything could change," Matt Farmer, Brody's dad, said.
Brody has already had his AVM burst once.
"He could've had a stroke, he could've died, he could've lost his speech... you know, a lot of things could've happened, but he was really lucky," Overocker added.
But, he might not be so lucky if his AVM were to burst again, and brain surgery to repair Brody's AVM is not an option because of where it is located in his brain.
"You cannot go that deep inside the brain and try to operate without causing a long-term effect," Farmer added.
Brody's parents said they were told it was just a wait and watch game.
"It's like getting punched in the stomach. I literally worry about it every night," Overocker said.
"I wasn't happy with that answer, because you know, I don't want to sit here and let something happen to my kid," Farmer said.
That's where Dr. Alejandro Berenstein in New York City comes into the story. Brody's parents say he has agreed to perform a costly and risky procedure to slow the blood flow and lower the risk of a future bleed from Brody's AVM.
"Can you really put a price on your kid?" Farmer added. "It's not about the money, you know... it's not."
If you would like to donate to Brody's medical trip to New York City, you can do so here.
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