A little boy's very public and brave battle with cancer has ended.
Seven-year-old Dominic Osorio of Bel Air died Friday morning. His family had a unique way of helping him deal with his painful treatments.
They created a superhero figure called 'The Dominator' to fight through radiation and chemotherapy.
Osorio was diagnosed with brain cancer when he was five. ‘He never cried once he never asked, ‘Why me?’’ said his aunt, Gabrielle Spagna.
But he did have help. Dominic's mother came up with the Dominator character. And the little boy assumed his alter ego on the tough days. ‘His attitude was amazing. He just -- through The Dominator -- became very strong and brave,’ said Samantha King, a close friend of the family.
The story struck a chord. Dave Anderson, who runs the family's favorite pizza parlor in Bel Air, got local artists together, and created a 'Dominator' comic book. The story follows a young boy's battle with cancer -- showing kids how to stay positive. ‘Dom motivated everybody to get through this, to keep pushing, to be positive, to believe that something good was going to come out of this,’ Anderson said.
And something good has come. Thousands of copies of The Dominator comic have sold -- with the proceeds going to pediatric cancer research. ‘I figured if this Dominator book could motivate some kids to be half as positive as Dom, then just imagine what all the adults around them would be,’ Anderson said.
Dominic's family is pushing for more funding to go toward children's cancer.
They also hope hospice care can become more widely available for kids.
‘Dominic's story just catches peoples' eye. If he was here right now, you could have just seen him or just met him -- everything about him he was just amazing,’ said his aunt Danielle Spagna.
Dominic had been in a coma for the past two months. Family members say he died peacefully Friday morning, at the age of seven. ‘I really hope that he can help other kids; he is such a great person he's the best person I've ever known,’ said his aunt Alayna Spagna.
