Toley Donatelli

Toley Donatelli was born on March 18, 2014 and along with his best friend and brother Bini, completed his mom and dad's little family. Toley is a ray of sunshine with a smile to match. He is an avid sports enthusiast and excels at playing soccer. He is a super football fan and his favorite team to cheer for is the Kansas City Chiefs. One of his favorite recent experiences was getting a VIP experience at a Chief's game where he got to meet players and even got a high-five from Patrick Mahomes!

When he is not watching football, Toley loves to spend time with his friends and eating all his favorite things. Toley's DMG journey means that they are on the road and in the air a lot, but Toley and his family are always looking for "sparkles" in each day, little moments that they are thankful for, even in the midst of hard times.

Diagnosis

In mid-October 2024, Toley's parents began noticing some odd symptoms in their normally high-energy, active guy. One Saturday morning he had a soccer game and looked like he was running in slow motion, was falling over without even touching the ball and was just struggling. His mom chalked it up to being tired although sh eknew he had gone to bed early in preparation for the early game he knew he had to be up and ready for. He struggled all weekend with running and walking in a straight line, couldn’t tie his shoes while standing up, was losing his balance and his speech was slurred and sometimes unrecognizable. On Tuesday a family friend also noticed the changes in Toley's speech so his mom called to make him an appointment for Thursday. During that initial appointment they spent about 2 ½ hours at the clinic until they were told they would need to go down to Rochester and that they would be admitting him upon arrival to get an emergency MRI. Fast forward to Friday morning when his family was told that Toley had an untreatable brain tumor which has been causing all of his symptoms. A few days later, Toley bravely underwent a brain biopsy that confirmed his diagnosis of Diffuse Midline Glioma (DMG). As devastating as this news was to his family, they dove in immediately, researching treatment options and medical opinions around the country. Toley began radiation treatment while his parents researched clinical trial opportunities. Those opportunities have required travel to other hospitals in other states but this family never gives up looking for continued tumor stability for their sweet guy.

More than a year after his initial diagnosis, Toley and his family are staying strong in their pursuit of treatment and refuse to give up, even on really challenging days and the Archer Foundation is proud to stand behind them.