Storytime at Anne Frank Elementary School in Dallas is a time for students to escape into another world. For fifth-grader Mathias Munante, it's a return to normalcy.
"I'm happy for no more tumor in my head," Munante said.
Munante and his family moved from South America to Dallas during the pandemic, in part, to get him help to fight cancer.
"A lot of our newcomers come to school with nothing. They're here to work and just survive," Anne Frank Elementary Community Liaison Melissa Martinez said.
Get DFW local news, weather forecasts and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC DFW newsletters.
In Munante's case, it was literally about survival. Martinez got to work, helping connect the family with community and health resources.
"I realized that the family had gone through a lot of mishaps and we had to carry the ball for them at times and actually drive them to medical appointments," Martinez said. "You know timing is everything with his condition, even death, so something so simple as informing these families of our resources and caring as a human and as a mom...you know, the worst could have happened."
Martinez helped the family navigate through the system and get emergency Medicaid, which allowed Munante to have surgery to remove the tumor in his brain, followed by chemotherapy. Today he is in remission.
Local
The latest news from around North Texas.
"God has watched over me and my child," Munante's mother Yanilut Aranguren said through a translator. "God has a bigger job for him and that's why he's here."
"It's a wonderful feeling," Martinez said, remarking how well Munante is doing now.
In November, Munante will get his Make-A-Wish filled with a trip to Disney World. That was his second choice. Munante's first choice was to meet soccer star Lionel Messi, but he chose Disney, saying it would be better to have a shared memory with his family.
"I want to give them the thanks that they've been by his side," Munante said through a translator.
