Broken Arrow boy raising money for surgery with lemonade stand

A six-year-old from Broken Arrow is selling lemonade to raise money for his surgery.

After having his adenoids removed, Eli Darnell started having horrible neck pain. Adenoids are glands in the back of a child’s throat between the airway the child breathes in through their nose and the back of their throat.

Now, doctors say he has a rare complication, meaning more surgery.

For eight months, Eli hasn’t been able to move his neck. He and his parents have gone from doctor to doctor and no one could figure out what was wrong. Finally, they received the proper diagnosis but are frustrated with what it will mean for their son.

“It’s so frustrating, it’s hard to sleep at night. You just lie awake in bed all night just wondering how much pain your son is in,” said Eli’s father, Brandon Darnell.

Right now, Eli is in so much pain, that his vision has become blurry. He said he feels numbness in his body and he often becomes dizzy and disoriented. Because of this, it’s hard for him to do normal kid activities.

“He can’t do a lot of things that you should be able to do at six years old. He can’t ride a bike without training wheels, he can’t swim. There’s a lot of things that you take for granted that he should have in his childhood and he’s being deprived of these things,” Brandon explained.

After a routine surgery, a bone specialist told the family Eli has something called Grisel’s Syndrome, a rare complication. Now, Eli needs spine surgery, but he can only get it out of state.

Doctors are unsure yet if he will need a spinal fusion or a rotary fixation plate, both are scary. Especially for a six-year-old.

When life gave him lemons, Eli made lemonade. It was his idea to sell and make lemonade. Eli’s mom, Jabneel Venegas-Darnell, said despite everything, Eli is always positive.

After just two days of setting up his lemonade shop, neighbors, Broken Arrow community members, and police officers have rallied around the Darnell family.

“Surprised is the word that I would use,” Brandon said. “I mean everybody has been really, really nice to us. Coming over and talking to us about it and offering help in various ways. This Broken Arrow community, we’re going to be here for the long haul.”

Eli’s parents don’t know when the surgery will be, but in two weeks, they are seeing a doctor in Colorado.

If you want to help Eli and the Darnell family, click here .