A 10-year-old soccer player from San Diego's South Bay, diagnosed with a brain tumor, is getting a helping hand from his teammates to get him back on the field.
George Olvera was a standout student and soccer player for the Atlante Futbol Club in Imperial Beach. Today, he's not on the soccer field, he's in a hospital bed.
A recent eye check-up unveiled that George had a rare brain tumor, his family said. The boy has spent the past two weeks at Rady Children's Hospital, recovering from two surgeries.
“They told me I had something wrong with my eye and then they sent me to take some photos,” George told NBC 7. “Next day and next day they took whole photo of my body and said I have a brain tumor.”
George now has to use a wheelchair, after losing motor skills on the left side of his body.
He says that soccer means a lot to him and it hurts that he can’t be on the field anymore.
"His first question was ‘Gramma when am I going back to school? When am I going back to soccer?’” his grandmother, Martha Flores, told NBC 7. “I say, ‘Honey, I don’t have answer for that.”
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"[I want] to get out of the hospital as soon as possible," George said, fighting back tears. "To play."
Flores said the boy's family was informed that George’s recovery would take a year but now they are being told it might be over a year.
“I have a smart little boy, an active little boy so it’s breaking my heart and all the family,” Flores said.
Cesar Ramirez, the Coach for Atlante Futbol Club and the team started a GoFundMe page to help pay for future medical expenses for the player.
“His teammates want to see him back out there,” Ramirez said.
“Our team is a family. When one hurts, we all hurt, that's the way I see it on field. One of kids needs help, I try to do as much as I can for them,” he added.
George said he appreciates the love and support from his teammates.
"I love them with all my heart," the boy said, crying.
To donate to George's recovery, click here.