Merced rallies around 3-year-old who ‘almost died twice’

MERCED, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – A Merced family is fighting after their youngest son, a toddler, was put on hospice following a cancer diagnosis and after losing everything due to a fire – and the community is fighting along with them.

On April 20, 2024, the Medina-Benson family took Luke Benson, a three-year-old and the youngest of four siblings, to the emergency room after being sick for several days. Five days later, the family received some heartbreaking news: Luke was diagnosed with Medulloblastoma, a malignant brain tumor.

During his time at the hospital, the Medina-Benson family learned Luke also had Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis, a rare blood disorder in which blood cells start destroying themselves.

“He almost died twice. He had to be intubated twice because of it,” said Jallussee.

After going through various types of treatment, his mom says Luke was finally able to go home after completing treatment and being discharged on April 18, 2025.

On May 14, the family went for an MRI and learned Luke’s cancer was non-curable because he was not responding to any of the chemotherapy treatment.

“They did a stem cell rescue to try to, like, heal him a little bit faster. But none of that worked, essentially,” Jallussee said. “So that was really disheartening to hear.”

After receiving the news, Jallussee said they started a GoFundMe to fund a bucket list for Luke and enjoy their last days together.

“As soon as the doctor said, ‘You know, you guys need to do this, you guys need to do this. You need to live a normal life as much as you can.’ And, you know, we’ll try to give you as much time as we can. That’s when we started, you know, thinking of what?” she said.

However, days later, on May 26, another tragedy hit the Medina-Benson family – they lost everything during a fire.

The fire started in the garage. The family’s father, Sam, instructed the kids to get out.

“He told our oldest to grab Luke and his middle brother and go outside. And so they went through the backyard and hopped the fence to the front yard because they couldn’t go to the front door.”

Jallussee says all their belongings, including medical supplies, were lost in the fire; however, given that Luke was on hospice due to his diagnosis, some of the medical supplies were provided while he received palliative care.

Now, the family says they are looking to spend Luke’s last days the best way they can – and the community has joined to help them make that possible, with donations, fundraisers and support.

A help, she says, is helping them get closer to permanent housing.

“Thank you to everybody who has donated, who’s come up with fundraisers, who’s done all these things for us because we really wouldn’t be here without them,” said Jallussee.

Jallussee is also working on her photography business, since she says this will help her to make money and stay closer to her children. She is also about to finish nursing school, and the family is on their way to getting the first thing on Luke’s bucket list: Disneyland.

Anyone who wishes to support this family can click here to visit their GoFundMe page.