Who I Admire

There is this person in my life that I deeply admire. Even though he is younger than I, he is the strongest and bravest person I know, and he is my little brother, Matthew Kapu. I love my little brother and if anything ever happened to him, I don't know what I would do. Up until my brother turned 12 he would always be the one running around and playing with all his friends; playing sports, getting hurt and having to go to the hospital for stitches. Once he turned 13 and went into 7th grade at Bidwell Junior High he started getting rashes/hives. At first we thought that maybe it was something at home that was causing him to get hives. So we went to the doctor and asked him to see what he was most allergic to so that we could fix the problem at home. They ended up sticking tiny needles on his back to determine what Matthew was allergic to. He would get scored from a 1 to 4, 4 being the highest (most allergic to) and 1 being the lowest (least allergic to). My brother was one thing: cat and dog fur.
Now this was a little odd to us, because our family has had pets for almost our whole lives! We could not figure out how he could be allergic to them. So, we decided to keep the animals outside just to try it. The following weeks came by and he still would get hives. So we finally started changing our soaps, air fresheners and everything that would possibly make Matthew break out in hives.
As the months went by, Matthew still went to school and had to come home because he had hives. Then one day, when we went to school he ended up in the hospital. His reaction to the hives had gotten so bad that it affected his airway and clogged his breathing, causing him to almost die, and this happened 10 times within 3 months. Now we were a scared. The school suggested that he be put into home schooling. They said that the school would pay for his home school and that he would get all the school’s help that he needed.
The more my brother got sick the more he slept, and the more he slept the more he didn't eat. My brother lost a total of 35lbs. I'm sure that, this was not normal for a 13 year old. My brother wasn't able to play sports outside, enjoy the outdoors, or visit his friends. He was cooped up in our house and unable to do anything but school work, homework and sleep.
I remember one night when my mom went into his room to take him some dinner, she went in and tried to get him to eat, but he was too weak to even sit up. Then my mom came out of his room crying, and I went to comfort her. I asked her what happened and she told me that Matthew had said to her,

"Mom...if I die, can you promise me to never forget me? And whenever you hear my type of music, always remember me. And if I do die, don't be sad, be happy because I will always love you no matter what happens, and even if I'm dead I will always be with you. And when my time comes, don't dress me up in a suit. I want to wear what I always wear, and I want to be buried with my skateboard. I love you."

Once my mom heard him those words she promised but left the room in tears. I don't think that a mother should ever have to hear her 13 year old son say those words.
After Matthew's "episodes" at school, we ended up taking Matthew to the doctors once more to do some more testing. They did, but were unable to find out what causes him to get these "episodes."
Matthew ended up completing his WHOLE 7th grade via home schooling. After being on 10 different pills and having to take them every morning and every night we thought that maybe he would be able to go back to school. The problem was that the doctor recommended that he didn’t have to take P.E. EVER!
When it came time for 8th grade, things were looking better, except one day, he ended up having one of his "episodes." The first thing that Matthew told me was that he didn't want to do home school again. Finally, the doctor found some medication that would help Matthew get ride of the episodes. The only thing was that he would have to take this medication for the rest of his life or at least until he got better. He also had to carry an Em Pi Pin, his inhaler, and the new medication which he had to take once again every morning and every night.
So, we gave it a try and for that week nothing happened to Matthew. We had finally found something that Matthew was able to take to help him. He now, has gained his pounds back, a little on the pudgy side, he now goes outside and plays sports, hangs out with his friends, and does all kinds of the things that he used to do. He is still in 8th grade and is going to be graduating this summer and moving on to Pleasant Valley High School!
I'm just glad that my little brother was able to be strong, and get through this ordeal. Even though he was really scared because, he was fighting something that could have killed him, but he pulled through! That is why I admire and love my little brother, Matthew Kapu