There is nothing more heartbreaking for a mom than seeing her child sick. And even worse, not being able to help them. That is the sad case of Chilean actress Leonor Varela, whose oldest child, Matteo, was born with leukodystrophy, an inherited disorder that is characterized by a progressive vanishing of the white matter in the central nervous system and may cause, among other things, problems with mobility, hearing, speech and vision.
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Now, the Cleopatra star's 5-year-old son is facing a new struggle. According to the actress, Matteo is struggling with a critical anemia "that threatens his life."
Varela took to Instagram to ask her followers to pray for Matteo's health.
"I’d like to only share Matteo’s smiles and victories with you, but that wouldn’t be the truth of what our lives are made of," she wrote on Instagram. "My son is fragile, and for the last 24 hrs, we have been fighting against an unknown that threatens his life. We are so fortunate to be in excellent medical hands, so all I want to ask you is to pray for him so that we may find the source of his critical anemia, and may rise once again like the warrior he is, #prayformatteo."
Fortunately, Matteo is feeling a lot better.
"Someone feels better!! I’m so grateful to each and everyone who shared their heart with my son yesterday: he took an impressive turn for the better last night! I know each prayer helped. We couldn’t have hoped for better results in the last 12 hrs," she wrote on Instagram, adding, "We are still waiting for answers, and will have to come back Friday, but for now we are happy to be going home tonight. So much #gratitude for your love and support. Challenges are easiest faced when not alone".
Last year, Matteo had a complex surgery to correct the damage of spasticity.
In an op-ed piece for the Chilean magazine Ya last December, the actress wrote about "the extreme spasticity, muscular hypotonia and hypertonia" that affected her son and put his body through a lot of stress. "The muscular tone of his legs was slowly dislocating both of his hips. His abductor muscles and hamstring tendon were so tight that he couldn't even stretch his lower extremities or open up his hips," she wrote.
What is leukodystrophy?
"Leukodystrophies are a group of rare, progressive, metabolic, genetic diseases that affect the brain, spinal cord and often the peripheral nerves," according to the description by the National Organization for Rare Diseases. "Symptoms of some types of leukodystrophy begin shortly after birth, but others develop later in childhood or even in adulthood. Each type of leukodystrophy affects a different part of the myelin sheath (the white matter), leading to a range of neurological problems. Leukodystrophy can cause problems with movement, vision, hearing, balance, ability to eat, memory, behavior, and thought. Leukodystrophies are progressive diseases meaning that the symptoms of the disease tend to get worse over time."
The actress has formed a beautiful family with her husband, actor-producter Lucas Akoskin.
The couple also has a 4-year-old daughter named Luna and a cute golden doodle service dog named Vito. The actress has shown great strength in the last couple of years having to deal with this disorder that affects her son.
And another way in which she has shown what she's made of is by speaking up against the sexual harassment she experienced at the hands of disgraced film producer Harvey Weinstein. "I think we have all been through that," she told La Segunda magazine last January. "But, without a doubt, I was very lucky. I am lucky to be very strong and to have had the strength of not allowing anyone to treat me like an object."
