A young life derailed
Jake Severino isn't the kind of guy to ask for sympathy, let alone help.
Then again, at 24 he isn't the kind of guy who should be dying, either.
But the strapping UMass-Boston student, once an aspiring doctor, has become a patient. And not just a patient, but one with an inoperable brain tumor and a few months to live. A man who, much too soon, has helped to plan his own funeral.
Lisa Donovan's voice breaks as she describes what has happened to her son-in-law over the past few months.
"It's a living nightmare," she said yesterday.
It was a nightmare that started as a series of migraine headaches, or so Severino believed.
They were followed, last spring, by a series of seizures that repeatedly landed him in emergency rooms, where the severity of his condition was misunderstood.
"He made the rounds of emergency rooms and they thought he was a junkie looking for drugs," Donovan said.
Referring to his wife, Kelli, one EMT told him, "You might be fooling this little girl, but you're not fooling me.' "
They met at the University of Massachusetts at Boston, and got married two years ago this December.
He worked two jobs while she finished her degree in Spanish. Now it was to have been his turn; Severino had been working on a degree in biology.
Life insurance was something they thought could wait. Now, their friends and neighbors are planning a fund-raiser at Florian Hall for Thursday night.
Severino grew up in Lynn, after moving here from the Dominican Republic when he was 15.
His wife plans to become a Spanish teacher, but that dream is on hold.
For now she is an around-the-clock nurse. While she gets some relief from her mother, she doesn't want to leave his care to others.
"She's doing it all by herself," her mother said proudly. "She's stubborn."
Donovan describes her son-in-law as the life of every party. "He's always the one who gets everyone else up to dance," she said. "My daughter is very introverted, which works well. She calms him down, and he brings her out of her shell."
Severino has suffered from migraines for years, which makes his family wonder whether his illness could have been diagnosed sooner. "I wonder if it's something he's been carrying around that just exploded," Donovan said yesterday.
It's almost a moot point. Severino's challenge now is getting through the day. He has lost most of his mobility, and mostly gets around on a walker. He has stretches in which he loses his eyesight. He has good days and bad days, if a day on a walker can be considered good at the age of 24.
All of this has been difficult for a man who has always been self-reliant.
Cancer can strike anyone at any time, of course. But it seems like a cruel fate for someone barely into adulthood, who should have a long and productive life ahead of him.
His most recent prognosis gives him three months to live, though Donovan is skeptical.
His greatest worry is leaving his wife in debt. He agreed to a fund-raiser only if nothing was done to promote it. But realities have set in. Dying is expensive.
Even in his pain, Severino has kept his connection to family.
When Donovan was preparing to take her son, D.J., to college this fall, he didn't want to leave his brother-in-law. He finally agreed to go away to school after they talked.
"Jake told him he had to go to get his degree, for him and for me."
Donations can be sent to the Jake A. Severino fund, c/o Mt. Washington Bank, 489 Gallivan Blvd., Dorchester, Ma. 02125.
Adrian Walker is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at walker@globe.com. 