Tough-luck youngster hopes to rebound

At 4 feet, 5 inches tall, Jonathon Cacal could be an up-and-coming Muggsy Bogues, dribbling deftly around taller players and darting across the gym floor at his basketball practice Wednesday night. The 10-year-old wears the purple-and-gold uniform of his youth team, the Lakers, who are practicing at the Vineland Recreation Center in North Hollywood. It’s one of the few times Jonathon can escape the tragedy that surrounds him at home.

When he was 3 months old, Jonathon’s now 7-year-old brother, Justyn, began having uncontrollable seizures that left him developmentally disabled and dependant upon a ventilator, feeding tube and a wheelchair. Every day after school, Jonathon comes home to help his mom take care of Justyn.

Then one day in February, Jonathon went with his father, Benjamin Cacal, to the doctor’s office. The doctor told Cacal he had colon cancer, which had spread to his liver. As he heard the news, Jonathon pulled the jacket over his head and cried.

“There’s nothing you can do but hang on,” said the 59-year-old Cacal, looking gaunt and exhausted. “I’m trying to fight it, to show him that it will be OK.”

“I feel sad; that’s the only feeling I have,” Jonathon said. “I wish my dad could get better.”

But underneath the sadness and fear, Jonathon has a keen sense of humor and a big heart. When he’s not helping out at home, Jonathon is known as the go-to guy in his fourth-grade class at Fair Avenue Elementary School, bringing homework to kids who are absent and helping his teacher erase the board or pass out papers. He hopes to become a construction worker and builds big Lego buildings, cars and houses in his spare time.

Jonathon’s family lives on property owned by Volunteers of America, as both his parents are unable to work. He shares a room with his stepbrother Vario, 20, the walls plastered with cutouts of Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan. Many of his neighborhood friends have gone to summer camp, but for Jonathon, this summer will be his first experience at UCLA’s UniCamp in the San Bernardino Mountains. His friends have returned from camp to tell him tales of their adventures -- the nightime ghost stories, the arts and crafts, the scavenger hunts.

“I’m excited to see animals like owls, maybe bears, to tell scary stories and learn how to make fire from rubbing sticks together,” he said.

About 12,000 children will go to camp this summer, thanks to $2.1 million raised by the fund last year. Donations this season will ensure that just as many deserving children get the camp experience next summer.

The annual fundraising campaign is part of the Los Angeles Times Family Fund of the McCormick Tribune Foundation, which this year will match the first $1.2 million in contributions at 50 cents on the dollar.

Donations are tax-deductible. For more information, call (213) 237-5771. To make donations by credit card, go to latimes.com/summercamp.

To send checks, use the attached coupon. Do not send cash. Unless requested otherwise, gifts of $50 or more will be acknowledged in The Times.