On the 26th of June 2007, in the Bahian city of Guanambi, Brazil, a little child was born.
His name was Daniel Neves. Blonde hair with green eyes, Daniel was a child like any other
but one day his mother Cleide had noticed that something was odd with the child.
The fact is that most babies spend most of their time sleeping
and shorter moments breastfeeding however Daniel spent less time sleeping
and was always hungry within a short period of time after drinking. At eight months small dots
appeared on little Daniel's legs and he easily caught the flu. His mother decided to take him
to the pediatrician for some tests where they discovered that the boy had a rare disease called
polycystic kidneys and chronic pancytopenia this condition worsened over time and from then on his
mother had to take him to the Salvadoran capital to see doctors specializing with this disease.
Daniel and his family would travel to Salvador every month and then return to the countryside
until at the age of eight his kidneys began to fail. This meant that the family would have to
move to Salvador permanently so that Daniel could undergo hemodialysis since this treatment was not
available in the countryside. The family went to church a lot and when they left for Salvador
the boy lost the freedom he had in the countryside. Going to school, the socializing
with his classmates, fun time with his cousins but most especially weekend visits to the farm a place
where the little one loved to spend time amongst the animals. In Salvador it was far from all that.
The little one kept thinking about how happy he was in the past. Then things took a turn when he
started to express his happiness in drawings and paintings but most especially in the comfort and
care of the Blessed Mother. It was between these uncomfortable and painful sessions
that the resilient boy developed his technique and taste for painting. The first image he drew
was of Our Lady of Aparecida. His mom Cleide, had a notebook with an image of Our Lady of
Aparecida. When Daniel saw the image, he then drew it, painted it and gave it as a gift to a relative
who had welcomed the family to Salvador and from then on he started to create more paintings and
drawings and people began asking him to create images of the catholic saints of their choice.
There were people who were devoted to saints like Saint Anthony, Saint Peter, Saint Expeditus,
Saint George, Saint Rita, Saint Dulce of the poor, Our Lady of light, Saint Lucia, Our Lady of Fatima
and Saint Padre Pio and they would ask little Daniel to draw these saints for their own keeping.
There were even those who requested drawings of animals and Daniel never refused as the little
one had a great love for all the animals.He would often remember his grandpa's farm and
each drawing was more enjoyable than the other. He was very fond of drawing Saint Francis of Assisi
as he was the patron saint of animals. The little one's eyes would light up each time he came across
the animals. It was like watching a miniature Saint Francis adoring God's beautiful creation.
One day, Daniel created a painting of 'Our Lady with Kidneys' one on the right side of her mantle
and the other one on the left side of her mantle. He named her 'Our Lady of the Kidneys'
He said she was to protect him and all people with kidney problems and also to help doctors
during the time of surgeries. He also drew his dream kidney transplant with the angels and
Our Lady in the operating room and many others. This was what cheered him up and made him forget
about all the problems he had. People who saw Our Lady were delighted and they all wanted paintings
of Our Lady of the Kidneys in their homes. He also created other titles for Our Lady. There
was Our Lady of the Heart, Our Lady of Cancer, Our Lady of Brazil and Our Lady of the Lungs.
Many expressed how much they liked the little boy's artworks and this was very much what made
little Daniel very happy and only increased his pleasure in creating more paintings of the saints
and of the Blessed Mother. During the time that Daniel was hospitalized, he spent most of his
time drawing and painting, so much that the people who went to visit him always took coloring books
and sketchbooks with them. One day a nurse took some small canvases and gave it to him to paint
on. The little one took them home and started to paint making images of animals and the saints.
Many were left amazed at the talent Daniel possessed. Finding the drawings beautiful,
the idea was given to the family to have the artwork sold. The government made the round-trip
tickets available for Daniel but the family needed to pay the cost for transportation
between hospitals in the capital of Sao Paulo as well as food during the stay in the city. Daniel's
mother could not work due to the amount of care her son required and so mother and son lived off
government benefits granted to Daniel. In addition to these food and transportation costs, the small
child had many medications that the government did not cover on a daily basis. Instead of giving up
hope however, Daniel rose to the challenge. At the age of 13, in order to pay for health treatments,
Daniel began selling his artworks. The little one's big dream was to receive a donated kidney.
For this, the money raised from the sale of the paintings as well as donations from friends was
saved for the transplant surgery. The sale of the paintings however did not generate enough
income to cover all the treatment costs that's why Daniel's family had also used a crowd funding
platform called 'VOAA' to raise funds. Thanks to God and to the generosity of many people
the donations far surpassed their goal. His story touched so many people that Daniel was able to
raise more than required. In 2016 he got a space at a hotel in Salvador to make an exhibition where
the money from the canvases were to be used for his treatment. Amazingly, in less than one hour,
the canvases had all been sold. The little one was also invited to participate in a craft fair
at a resort in Hotel Catussaba. Daniel was a very matured child for his age.
People were impressed whenever they talked to him. Whenever he saw adults receive the Sacred Host,
he was curious and really wanted to receive it as well. When his mother would get in line to receive
Holy Communion, he would jump in line to receive Our Lord too but his mother would tell him that he
needed to make his first communion first. He was very upset. The little one cried and was angry
with the priest because the priest did not give the sacred host to him. So at the end of the mass,
knowing how much Daniel wanted to receive Our Lord, his mother tried talking to the
priest and explained that he had already done the catechesis, he just needed to make his
first Holy Communion. So the priest managed to schedule a day for his first communion.
It was to be for Daniel alone and he couldn't do it together with the other children.
In September of 2019, little Daniel made his first communion. The mass was filled with many children
and the little one himself was very happy to receive the body of Christ. At the end
of the mass, he was gifted with two cakes. The parties they had for him were very beautiful,
even Daniel himself shared some photos of his first communion on Instagram, expressing how
happy he was about this unique occasion in the life of every catholic. He wrote: "I dreamed a
lot about this moment. Thanks to everyone who was part of it. Thanks also for the surprises"
Tragedy soon struck when little Daniel became a victim of Covid19.
Daniel passed away on a Tuesday afternoon after being hospitalized for 13 days with Covid19
on the 18th of May, 2021 at the age of 13. His mother wrote in a post
"His health was already very fragile due to health problems. He fought bravely until the
end. Thank you all for your affection and support during the years. You were part of his life
of his love for drawings" She completed the statement in thanks to the people who followed
the boy on Instagram. The boy's mother affirmed that Daniel made his life more special, sweet,
fun and playful, and she highlighted that the boy captivated people with his talent. She added:
"Now you will make heaven more colorful. We will miss you every day. Rest in peace." In addition,
she noted that Daniel's departure process was special and that God had been merciful
in allowing a farewell even if it was a painful one. She herself shared her testimony of the love
and faith her little one left behind and said "I was always there by his side giving him strength.
Every time he went to the operating room for a procedure he said a prayer and talked to God
for a blessing, praying that everything would go well. He had a lot of faith in being cured.
I know I learned a lot from him too. It was great to have him as a son. He liked to play celebrating
mass as though he would be the priest. I felt and still feel privileged with the faith that existed
within him and the certainty of everything he needed and all that he asked God. I always said
that everyday miracles happened in Daniel's life because of so many problems that he had,
and I thank God the good thing about it all was that he didn't feel pain. Daniel taught me many
things. To be more patient, more courageous in facing problems, confident that everything would
work out. He taught me to have more faith, more love, to look out for others. He taught me to
be strong, to face everything I was going through with him. Other people didn't realize that inside,
I was also feeling what Daniel felt and suffered. Today I feel good knowing that he is in a good
place without pain and suffering. Today he is happy there beside God the Almighty Father."
Daniel's mother wrote a book called 'Daniel, the great little artist' which shares more about his story and the various artworks the little boy had created. Today, Daniel's mother continues to share more of his never before seen artworks on Instagram.