PGA Tour Champion Camilo Villegas' Daughter Dead at 22 Months Old
On Oct. 3, 2018, four-time PGA Tour winner Camilo Villegas shared some exciting news on his Instagram.
“Officially a Dad,” he wrote. “Mom … and Mia doing great and I simply can’t stop smiling… Welcome to this world and this Family Mia.”
In March, Villegas and his wife Maria started noticing odd behavior from Mia.
Of course, babies are growing so fast that acting out of sorts is pretty common — but the difference they noticed in Mia set off alarms.
“She always went to the gym with me; it was one of our bonding spots,” Villegas told the PGA Tour’s official website.
“She was always like a little monkey, climbing on everything.
“But then one day, I noticed she had not been climbing on anything. She had also been crying a little more than normal at night. She had been teething, so we took her to the pediatrician, thinking it was that.”
“I’ll admit, bad feelings crossed my mind,” he said. “I had heard bad stories here and there. So, I told my wife about that concerns. She told me not to think like that.”
On March 14, the family went to Nicklaus Children’s Hospital in Miami to get more tests and scans done.
The results were heartbreaking: Mia had cancerous tumors on her spine and brain.
Mia had surgery to remove the tumors — but shortly after, it became clear that the tumors weren’t going to go away.
“After the surgery, when it was time to remove the stitches, they learned the growth had become pretty aggressive,” Villegas recounted.
“We were told we needed to start treatment right away, so they kept us there. Physically, though, she wasn’t ready to get the kind of chemo doctors were hoping for.”
Villegas also said that Mia still showed an interest in playing, despite the alternative rounds of chemotherapy they were embarking upon. At the time, he reassured fans they did not want people to be sad for them.
On Sunday, 22-month-old Mia passed away.
Jay Monahan, the PGA Tour’s commissioner, released a statement on behalf of the organization, according to Fox News.
“The PGA Tour is deeply saddened having lost a member of our family, Mia Villegas,” he said.
“We grieve with Camilo and Maria and our thoughts and prayers are with the Villegas family.”
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