Being strong for Mavi | Toronto Sun

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Dalia Valle is 11. She loves dogs and art and fashion. Her favourite colour is light blue. “In the future, I really want to be a mom,” she says, “and a nurse or a scientist or a teacher, something that helps the world.” Maybe start a business like her mom, Janna, who has an art studio.

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“My brother Maverick and I have always been best friends,” Dalia says.

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I first met them at Variety Village, the epic sports centre in Scarborough catering to kids with disabilities. This is Dalia’s take on how they got there — Mike Strobel

Dalia Valle, Guest Column

Everything started on Jan. 27, 2023. I was hanging out during recess with my friends and I saw Mavi in his snow fort alone so I went to check on him. He was crying and saying that his head hurt, so I helped him to the office. Then he kept throwing up, and I was scared. My parents (Janna and Mario) came to pick him up. They brought my baby brother Salvador who at the time was only two months old.

Their friends came to pick me up from school early. They told me that my brother just had a doctor’s appointment and that I was going home with them. But something felt off. It was weird and confusing. My parents told me over the phone that Mavi was in the hospital. I didn’t really know why.

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‘Crying myself to sleep’

I stayed overnight and slept in my school uniform. I remember crying myself to sleep. The next day I went to a friend’s birthday party still in my uniform, but I was super upset and crying.

It turns out Mavi had something called an AVM (Ed. note: arteriovenous malformation) rupture. That day my Grandma Jeanie flew in from New Brunswick and it ended up just being me, her and my dog Bryan at home for several months. My parents and Salvador stayed near Sick Kids Hospital.

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After a week, I could visit my parents at the hospital but I wasn’t able to see Mavi until a month later.

Finally.

‘Tubes and monitors’

I remember being so scared to see him. I had no clue what he would look like. As soon as I saw him I started crying. There were so many tubes and monitors, it was so overwhelming but I tried to be strong for Mavi.

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It was really overwhelming at school. People asked me every five seconds what happened to my brother. After about two months, and a few surgeries, Mavi moved to Holland Bloorview (Kids Rehab Hospital). They cared a lot more about siblings being involved and it was really nice to be able to help, with things like his feeding tube and his therapy. My brother got discharged from Holland Bloorview that August. One year after that, Mavi walked for the first time since he got sick! It was really exciting and I was so proud!

‘My brother is amazing’

My brother is amazing. I am so proud of him. He’s gone through so much, and he always pushes through no matter what. If I could make a wish for Mavi it would be that he gets so much better and doesn’t need his wheelchair or walker and everything can go back to before.

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Variety Village has really impacted our lives. It’s such an amazing place and I love that everyone can be involved. My whole family uses it and I love that it’s for all abilities. Mavi plays Volt Hockey and Challenger Baseball. Salvador and I do swimming lessons. The Sun Christmas Fund is important because it helps kids like Mavi reach their potential.

They say people with disabled siblings have more empathy and  understanding of others. It’s true.

We do know what it’s like to care and to help.

northchannelmike@gmail.com

Your donation matched this week!

Variety Village has been with Mavi and his family step-by-step during his long, tough recovery. So have donors to the Sun Christmas Fund.

Now, two anonymous readers, blessed with the spirit of the season, have stepped up to match contributions through Dec. 7, to a max of $50,000. The timing is perfect, since Giving Tuesday is this week.

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Watch for promo ads in the paper or donate direct at sunchristmasfund.ca. Your gift will pack twice the punch this week — plus you join these recent donors on our honour roll:

Agatha & Vince Lisi, Etobicoke, $25

Alice White, Whitby, $25

Joseph & Eva Adams, Stouffville, $100

Bud & Sharon Gardiner, Barrie, $100

Kenneth Pelley, Pelley’s Conveyor Ltd., Vaughan, $500

M. Robertson, Pickering, $15

Jennifer Hubbard, Scarborough, $250

Louise Koen, North York, $50

Ernest & Elizabeth Barnes, Etobicoke, $200

Robin Maraj, Toronto, $20

Nancy Gullone, York, $30

Marianne Meinel, Scarborough, $25

Lola M, Toronto, $80

Linda Edwards, Etobicoke, $25

Jack & Linda Meyer, North York, $100

Carmine & Luisa Richichi, North York, $30

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Gordon Walsh , Pickering, $50

Anonymous, North York, $100

Alexander Gass, Etobicoke, $300

Mike O’Hearn, Scarborough, $100

Dragana Sivac, Scarborough, $50

Joe Bowen, Markham, $100

Karen Howey, Bath, $50

Maria Teresa Turchetti, Scarborough, $200

Robert Scott, North York, $25

Anonymous, Toronto, $100

Grace Bruce, North York, $50

Anonymous, Toronto, $50

Brian & Susanne Sambleson, Scarborough, $30

Allan Robinson, Oshawa, $25

Ryan Macdonald, Barrie, $30

Anonymous, Pickering, $100

Wanda McPake, Scarborough, $500

Custom Door & Lock Service, Scarborough, $500

Anonymous, Toronto, $100

Rose Marie Scholes, Etobicoke, $30

Richard Stankiewicz, Scarborough, $25

Shari Payne, Toronto, $100

Anonymous, Scarborough, $30

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Peter Karavos, East York, $100

Andrew Evinou, Oshawa, $25

Paul Beeston, Toronto, $250

Virginia Solomon, Toronto, $50

Carol Jean & Alister McGrady, North York, $100

Donald  Rowley, Milton, $25

Jack Boland, Toronto, $100

Mary Switzer, Toronto, $100

Janet Smit, Aurora, $100

John Scott, Brampton, $100

Shawn Hill, Scarborough, $100

Wilma Leigh, Oshawa, $100

David Masters, Toronto, $500

Sam & Mahrukh Mehta, Scarborough, $500

Sharon  Hasbury, Oakville, $25

Florence Morris, Scarborough, $25

George Spadafore, Georgian Bluffs, $30

George & Joan Chisholm, Milton, $500

Lois Skyvington, Cobourg, $100

Tony Hsiung, Scarborough, $300

Ron Gray, Toronto, $100

Ruth Ransom, Mississauga, $125

Anonymous, $50

Donna Goldstein, Toronto, $35

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Roger & Doreen Chambers, Peterborough, $200

Delia Chong, Mississauga, $20

Janet Morrison, Eganville, $100

Bernice Leone, Scarborough, $25

William & Colleen Busby, Etobicoke, $100

Debra Doulaghsing, Otonabee, $50

William Dick, Oakville, $25

Margaret McNeil, North York, $100

Tom & Nina Tashos, Etobicoke, $150

Margaret Robertson, Pickering, $15

Jackie Hogan, Toronto, $200

Krishan Puri, Scarborough, $75

Karen Moscrop, Scarborough, $150

Patricia Fell, Orillia, $30

Donna Firman, Toronto, $50

Linda Snoyer, Oakville, $150

Deedy Vandenberg, Kitchener, $40

Peggy Noble, Wasaga Beach, $50

Virginia Solomon, Toronto, $50

Anne Ryan, Toronto, $50

Marc Singleton, Scarborough, $25

Barry Ross, Brampton, $30

Jean Whynot, Scarborough, $250

Pauline Shatford, Burlington, $50

Dorothy Rusoff, Toronto, $50

TOTAL TO DATE: $58,297

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