died after suffering a fatal brain aneurysm on Halloween<\/a> night\u2014but even in their grief, they are finding ways to give others hope.<\/p>\nDylan had just finished trick-or-treating with friends on Friday when he suddenly collapsed. He was rushed to Phoenix Children\u2019s Hospital, where doctors discovered a devastating brain bleed. Despite their efforts, Dylan died on Nov. 1.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was so loved,\u201d his mother, Megan, said. \u201cI knew we were loved, but I didn\u2019t realize how strong of a bond he had with all of his friends.\u201d<\/p>\n
Friends and classmates visited Dylan\u2019s bedside in his final hours to say goodbye to the boy many describe as kind, selfless, and full of joy.<\/p>\n
Dylan lived with Type 1 diabetes and Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, a connective tissue disorder that also affects his sisters, Alexis and Kaylie. The family believes the condition caused Dylan\u2019s muscles to hyperextend inside his brain, triggering the fatal aneurysm.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy legs hurt because of Ehlers-Danlos, like my muscles hyperextend. If my muscles hyperextend, I can’t move my leg for like a minute until they go back,” Alexis said. “It’s a thing that you have to live with every day.”<\/p>\n
Though their loss is unimaginable, the Skalina family is finding strength in knowing that Dylan\u2019s life will continue to make a difference.\u00a0<\/p>\n
His pancreas will be used for diabetes research, a cause he cared deeply about, and his organs and tissues will be donated to help others. Doctors estimate his gift could save or improve the lives of more than 300 people.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe used to joke that he had a \u2018bum pancreas,\u2019\u201d his mother recalled. \u201cBut now they can use it to help find a cure for Type 1 diabetes\u2014one of his biggest goals in life.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tuesday morning at Phoenix Children\u2019s Hospital, staff and family members will hold an Honor Walk for Dylan: a solemn tribute to organ donors who give the gift of life to others.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s so important to him,\u201d Megan said. \u201cI know he\u2019s watching and realizes how many people he\u2019s going to help.\u201d<\/p>\n
Through Dylan\u2019s selflessness, his family hopes others will learn about Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, organ donation, and the power of one young life to change so many others.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"While trick-or-treating with friends, Dylan Skalina suffered an aneurysm and later died. Because he is an organ donor,…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":354511,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5131],"tags":[5229,5643,1587,1589,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-354510","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-phoenix","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-arizona","10":"tag-az","11":"tag-phoenix","12":"tag-united-states","13":"tag-united-states-of-america","14":"tag-unitedstates","15":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","16":"tag-us","17":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115490323482373434","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/354510","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=354510"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/354510\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/354511"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=354510"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=354510"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=354510"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}