Wednesday morning Maverick Dizmang, 4, a Lubbock boy diagnosed with Ewing Sarcoma, died at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.
“That’s the best part knowing he can run free and play and do whatever he wants,” his mother Chey Vogeler said. “He’s going to be healed.”
Maverick’s condition had significantly worsened in the last few weeks.
“And then last week we thought he had pneumonia for about two weeks,” Vogeler said. “But it wasn’t doing any better, wasn’t doing anything. And so, finally, on my birthday, February 15, we had to intubate him because he was having a hard time breathing.”
A CT scan of Maverick’s chest would reveal the heartbreaking diagnosis.
“That’s when they found out his disease had progressed so much that there was nothing else we could do,” Vogeler said.
Maverick was born in Lubbock in May of 2012. Two years later he was diagnosed by doctors. His cancer tumor targets the bones and was first found in his scapula.
We met Maverick and his mother, Vogeler, in November 2014. They plead with the public for platelet donations. Maverick needed platelets to continue his treatment, but there was a severe shortage in the Hub City. Touched by his story, donations were made and Maverick’s treatment continued.
We caught up with Maverick again in May 2015. This time, he was out of the hospital and visiting the Texas Tech University Therapeutic Riding Center. Instead of having a birthday party, Maverick made a donation to the riding center where he hoped to attend one day when he was better. In return, the riding center held a birthday party for Maverick.
A few months later Maverick was back in the hospital. This time, a woman from Kansas City reached out to KLBK so she could help Maverick and his mom, Chey. Christiana Geyer-Phillips had followed Maverick’s journey and touched by his story, she wanted to help.
Finally, a victory for Maverick in October 2015 when he rang the bell at University Medical Center’s Southwest Cancer Center, signaling his last day of chemotherapy.
The victory was short lived, Maverick’s cancer returned by March 2016.
Maverick received treatment at both Covenant Health and University Medical Center before moving to Houston to continue treatment in 2016.
Over a two year period Maverick had 15 surgeries and received several rounds of chemotherapy. Parts of his lungs and diaphragm were most recently removed.
Vogeler said Maverick had a lot of fun in his short time on earth. Maverick met Houston Texan Defensive End J.J. Watt, went to Disney World with Make-A-Wish and became an honorary firefighter with the Houston Fire Department.
On the way to the funeral home Wednesday morning, members of the Houston Fire Department turned on their lights and sirens and saluted Maverick as his car went by.
Vogeler said MD Anderson offered her a position at the hospital helping parents when they first find out their children are ill. While Lubbock is home, she and her family will stay in the Houston area.
She asked everyone in Lubbock to continue donating blood and platelets, because that is how patients are able to receive their treatment.
Maverick’s funeral will be Saturday at 2 pm at St. Marks United Methodist Church in Baytown, TX.
If you would like to help his family with funeral expenses, please visit their GoFundMe page.
