Hook 4 Hope
July 13, 2019

Father’s Day 2018, My husband Jonathan Cruz, was struck by two propellers on a boat in the Sand bar by Elliot Key.   I had just gotten onto our family’s boat with our kids and other family members. While I was trying to put on the kids life vests, I start hearing screams of terror and boat motors at full throttle. I didn’t realize exactly what was happening, all i remember is looking up and seeing Jonathan’s cousin holding onto the other guys boat on the side, but it never crossed my mind that someone was behind that boat, let alone, Jonathan...   There was so much screaming going on, it wasn’t until I stood up, saw blood, and one of our family members looked at me with dread in her eyes. I was no longer “here.”  Jonathan and his cousin went to help another boater get out of the sandbar area. Being fully aware that they were behind, the boaters motors turned on reverse while Jonathan was just a couple of feet behind.   Miraculously, Jonathan held onto something that kept him fighting those motors while his body was being shredded. He was able to fight the propellers from taking him down, up until they were finally shut off. In a matter of M milli-seconds, his body was under the water. Jonathan’s cousin grabbed him up from under the water, but he knew right away how bad this was.   Jonathan lost consciousness multiple times out in the ocean, but an off-duty Paramedic happened to have heard the commotion and saw the blood all in the water. He and his brother dove in and had some equipment to get an IV started on him. The Paramedic told us that when he got to Jonathan, his body was green; his body was shutting down. That IV made all the difference in our lives. The quick thinking of this Lieutenant gave Jonathan a fighting chance to get to Ryder Trauma, where we were greeted with the Hero’s that officially saved Jonathan’s life!  The extent of his injuries are unimaginable! It was as if we were having a nightmare that we couldn’t wake up from.   Exactly one year later, our son had a follow up appointment with his hematologist because he had been showing weird symptoms for some time and they had been checking his blood levels.  They supposedly ruled out leukemia and were diagnosing him with light case of anemia the first time they ran a CBC, but on his second follow up, his CBC came back worse than the initial time.   I remember it vividly.. they did his usual bloodwork. The doctor came into the room, and right away I can tell that he was going to tell me some thing no parent wants to hear. He goes on: “Mom, we are going to have to admit Jonathan and do a bone marrow biopsy and aspiration as soon as possible because his levels are worse, he isn’t getting better.” My heart and soul came out of my body. I asked him if he thinks it could be ITP, and he says it could be one of the things they’re looking at, and started naming, and there it goes, our nightmare began.   It took almost 4 days after the bone marrow biopsy and aspiration for them to give us a preliminary. And on that day, they told us that our son has a form of Leukemia. They had to send his chromosomes and cells to several different states to confirm the type in order to start treatment as soon as possible.   Life has been a complete rollercoaster, but we are standing firm and fighting. Our little man is the strongest I’ve ever known ♥️   There is a quote that I came across and it is so accurate; it goes:  “Their strength can make a grown person cry. Their laughter will make your heart melt. If you’ve ever seen a child fight cancer, it will change your life forever.”