Xavier is the oldest boy in a family of five children. “He has a really big heart,” says his mom, Antoniette. “He’s very funny, he likes to make people laugh. He’ll always go out of his way to make others feel comfortable.” 

At school, Xavier is sometimes the class clown, but he works hard at his academics and he loves playing football, PC gaming, and hanging out with his friends. 

Xavier had been seeing an ophthalmologist for a few years to monitor a growth on his eye. Toward the end of 2019, the growth began to bother him and required surgical removal. A biopsy of the growth revealed an unexpected cause—stage 4 non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. 

Antoniette and Nathan, Xavier’s parents, started Xavier’s treatment immediately. He spent the spring quarter of his sophomore year of high school in 2020 in the children’s oncology department at Kaiser Permanente Santa Clara. 

At the same time, Bay Area residents were being required to shelter in place. “He was having a really hard time, going through treatments, and mentally,” remembers Xavier’s dad, Nate. “On top of that, he was dealing with missing his friends and not getting to play football.” 

Xavier felt bad about what his family was going through. He hated knowing that his parents were stressed and concerned about his health and he didn’t want his siblings to worry about him. 

“One of the things I love about my son,” claims Nate, “is that, even though he's the one that actually was sick, he was still concerned about everyone else.” 

After four tough months, Xavier completed his treatment and went home to continue his recovery. With the COVID-19 pandemic still in full force, Xavier found that being at home was a lot different than before he’d been admitted to the hospital. He was feeling stronger and more energetic, but he had missed out on many of the fun milestones he’d looked forward to at school.  

Nate and Antoniette had watched chemotherapy take its toll on their funny, kind-hearted son and now the hardships of the pandemic were affecting his recovery and emotional well-being. They knew he needed something to look forward to. To help their son overcome this challenging time of his life, they were going to need to get into the game of hope. 

Thankfully, Make-A-Wish had started working with Xavier and his family to bring Xavier’s wish to life. Xavier loves online gaming and he wished to have an online shopping spree, with the main component being a custom, top-of-the-line gaming PC he could build himself. 

Xavier and Nate worked together to research all the parts they needed for the PC. It was a great distraction for Xavier—after months of doctors, treatments, and COVID-19 isolation, he was looking forward to his wish. “He was really excited,” notes Nate. “It really came at the perfect time. I think he really needed a pick-me-up.” 

Staff at Make-A-Wish Greater Bay Area got to work tracking down and ordering the PC parts. Supply chain delays made it difficult to get everything together but, in December 2020, Xavier was surprised with a wish delivery at a socially-distant celebration outside his home. “He was just so blown away with everything he ended up receiving,” beams Antoniette. 

Xavier and Nate built the PC together and their bonding time was fortuitously timed. “It was just before the holidays. He was going to school at home and kind of depressed. He wasn't really himself,” says Nate. “It was nice to spend that time with him and do that for him and get his room set up. It really came at the perfect time.” 

Since receiving the PC components and assembling the computer, Xavier’s wish has kept on giving. It proved to be a great gaming PC, an incredible project to build, and an asset for doing school online. 

“It's been helpful for him because he's got the dual monitors, and so he's able to do things like his Zoom class and his assignments all at once,” explains Antoniette. “It's definitely helped him stay on top of things.” 

Xavier’s wish to have a gaming PC is a fun, comforting way to pass the time; it gave Xavier something to look forward to during the most challenging year of his life. “The computer allows him to have his mind preoccupied and not so stuck on his cancer and his chemo,” says Antoniette. “It just allowed our son to get hope back.” 

Thank you, PlayStation, for helping make wishes like Xavier's come true!