Eight months ago, Peyton David McCormick woke up one morning with a crossed left eye. Kelly Flanagan McCormick, his mom and a licensed nurse, thought the worst and her fears were confirmed.
Peyton was diagnosed with diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma, a rare and highly aggressive brain tumor that locates at the base of one's brain in the area that controls vital functions like breathing.
The family was living in Clovis, N.M., at the time. Peyton's father, Robert McCormick, is an Air Force sergeant with 13 years in the military. He was assigned to Warner Robins so the family could live near relatives and seek treatment for Peyton in Atlanta hospitals.
The family moved in with Peyton's maternal grandparents, Dave and Nancy Flanagan of Marietta. Two months after his diagnosis, family and friends donated money so they could visit Disney World.
"He had a blast," his mother said. "He loved Buzz Lightyear."
In May, Peyton's health deteriorated as the tumor grew, and on Friday he died from complications of his illness. He was 2. A funeral will be held at 11 a.m. Monday at Johnson Ferry Baptist Church in Marietta. A graveside burial will follow at Arlington Memorial Park in Sandy Springs. H.M. Patterson & Son, Arlington Chapel, is in charge of arrangements. The family asks that donations to be made to the Southeastern Brain Tumor Foundation Race for Research to support "Peyton's Space Rangers".
When Peyton was first diagnosed, his paternal step-grandfather, Mark Coomer, wrote a column that appeared in the Evansville Courier & Press in Indiana.
"Peyton is not a big boy, despite what we tell him," he wrote last September. "He has had neither the time nor the inclination to build any walls. That's why his parents, Rob and Kelly McCormick, are there: to be strong for him, to make the best decisions for him."
Peyton's parents sought traditional treatment as opposed to trial experiments. He had radiation every day for six weeks, which appeared to be successful. When the family returned from their trip to Disney World, the tyke underwent chemotherapy every two weeks but an MRI showed tumor growth.
In May, Peyton started experiencing slurred speech and had problems with balance. His condition worsened during a second family trip to Disney World, this one made possible by the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
"It was very hard to watch our child just break down, watch his body give up," his mother said. "It got to the point he couldn't make Buzz Lightyear fly. God had a plan for our family and for Peyton. He was such an inspiration to all of us."
Peyton had always wanted a little brother. His mother is expecting to deliver a boy in early November. The infant's name is Connor. Peyton chose it.
Additional survivors include a sister, Mackenzie Christina McCormick of Marietta; paternal grandmother Martha Coomer of Evansville, Ind., and paternal grandparents John and Gail McCormick of Ridgecrest, Calif.
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