On Tuesday, Aug. 9, burglars took approximately $15,000 worth of valuables from the Rossmoor home of a little boy who is fighting a rare blood disease.
“We just moved in Saturday and we were robbed on a Tuesday,” said Gus Quinonez, a real estate agent with Keller Williams Los Alamitos. His son Kai, 8, has a rare blood disease called aplastic anemia. Kai’s bone marrow doesn’t produce red blood cells. The illness affects about one person in a million.
The Keller Williams Los Alamitos office has been raising money for Kai’s cause. Kai received an honorary member certification from the West Orange Community Emergency Response Team on Saturday, June 4.
The good news is, the family will be going to Wisonsin Tuesday, Aug. 23, for a possible bone marrow match for Kai. KW Cares, the non-profit for Keller Williams International, granted Kai $22,400 to help with his medical bills.
Details will be published in next week’s Sun.
As for the Aug. 9 crime, although Quinonez said the criminals “robbed” his family home, the crime was actually a burglary. A robbery occurs when a criminal confronts the victim and uses violence or the threat of violence to take the victim’s property.
Quinonez said the criminals ransacked their home.
Among the stolen possessions the thieves took were the Wii games that had been donated to his son by the school.
Five patrol cars responded to the Quinonez house when the crime was reported. The Orange County Sheriff’s Department crime lab came the next day.
“We were pleased with the response,” Quinonez said.
Quinonez said the family has good insurance. He is concerned about the financial loss, but the family is moving forward.
Unfortunately, the theft isn’t the only recent problem for the Quinonez family. A house that burned down in Sunset Beach was one of Gus Quinonez’s real estate listings.
Quinonez said the crime was frustrating because of his son’s illness. He said Kai recently completed six months of chemotherapy and didn’t get a good response, so now the family is on to what Quinonez described as Plan C—probably a bone marrow transplant.
Unfortunately, Kai’s brother is not a bone marrow match. That means he will need a donor.
The next step for Kai, according to his father, is to go to Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
“The doctor there is the best in the nation for what he has,” Quinonez said.
He said Kai will be away for four to six months for the next phase of his treatment.
Even so, the Quinonez family is undaunted.
“We’ll just keep moving forward,” Gus Quinonez said. For information about Kai Quinonez, visit www.kaispage.com.
