We are the Rombouts Family from Thedford, ON. Kevin and I have 4 beautiful children Zac, Hudson, Max and Everlee. Max was born May 17, 2017 at the Children’s Hospital in London. It was supposed to be an exciting time for us as it was our 3rd child and another boy, but that’s when life had a different idea for us. Max was diagnosed with Infant Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia within 14 hours of being born. The signs that told the medical team that something was wrong was he had raspberry spots all over his body and when they did blood work his white blood count was extremely high. Max then spent 5 months in hospital going through treatment, while I spent nights at RMH and Kevin was back and forth with Zac (5 at the time) and Hudson (2 at the time) to visit Max and I. Once Max and I got home we
still had to travel back and forth for treatment which was a lot at times but being at home as a family was important.

In April of 2018 we received the devastating news that Maxs leukemia was back and we were in for another long haul. This time it took a bit to get Max back into remission so we could head to Toronto where Max received a bone marrow transplant. August 15, 2018 Max received his new marrow and this was the day his new healthy life was starting. Max and I finally were able to come home to the rest of our family September 25, 2018. We knew there was still going to be trips to London, but being all home again under one roof was the most important. Max did end up having a few hospital admissions because of line infections, but we knew those were short term as his central line was going to be removed and it ended up being removed sooner than thought because of infections.

February 4, 2019 was a day for just a normal check-up but when I was told not to leave the hospital that Max’s doctor needed to see me I knew something wasn’t right. That day we were told that Max’s cancer was all back and options were very limited to really nothing because of his age. From that day and going forward we allowed Max to live his life to the fullest. Nothing was going to stop us as a family to create the best memories possible. We planned a very quick last minute trip to Florida through Make-A-Wish, big brothers Zac and Hudson have the best memories from that trip and still talk about them today. For Max’s second birthday we planned the biggest party for him, the TLC Foundation also helped make Max’s party a huge success with organizing to have a carousel at his party. When in Florida, we would spend hours going around and around so we knew he needed one at his party and the TLC Foundations made that happen. In the days after his party Max spent his time outside enjoying the simple things of having someone push him in his swing, going for gator rides, and chasing the dogs around. He loved the outdoors.

On June 6, 2019 our whole world flipped upside down when “Miracle Max” left his final print on earth. We have never allowed Max to be forgotten, he is still making a difference in the world today.