"For that we will be forever grateful as the specialist later told us had Victor remained undiagnosed, it may have only been a matter of days before Dani woke up beside a corpse."
The doctor noticed haemorrhaging on Victor's retina and referred him to the eye clinic at Wellington Hospital. There, the nurse called in the eye specialist who referred him to a ward for blood tests. The results showed something seriously wrong and Victor was given the first of what was to become many blood transfusions.
"Once we heard Victor had been admitted to hospital, we let out other seven children know and began the six-hour journey from Kawerau to Wellington," Richmond said.
"The next morning we were listening to various provisional diagnosis from the blood cancer consultant on the ward. After a week and a half of transfusions, bone marrow biopsy and blood tests, Vic has been given a diagnosis of a trifecta disease; myelodysplasia, aplastic anaemia and paroxysmal-nocturnal-haemoglobinuria.
"In short, his options are death or bone marrow transplant."
The day the Richmond family received the news, all of Victor's siblings were tested for a bone marrow match. In just under two weeks' time they will know if any of them will be able to give their brother the life-saving marrow he needs.
"Victor has 'My Brother's Keeper' tattooed on his chest," Richmond said. "Even though he is the youngest, he has always been there for his siblings. It's perhaps symbolic that one of them may be the person to give him the gift of life."
A Givealittle page started by Victor's sister Kathryn Richmond after she received hundreds of messages from her brother's friends asking how they could help, has seen more than $15,000 raised in four days.
"I believe that is testament to the way people feel about Victor," Richmond said. "This may sound like words from a doting mother, but he really has bought joy to the lives of his family and friends.
"Before he was born our family was mourning the loss of twins but with Victor came this joy, he has always had an incredible ability to make people happy."
She said since being diagnosed, Victor had been given a "manual" of things to do to stay healthy. "They have also been preparing him mentally for the journey ahead and being future-focused, telling him that life is precious and worth fighting for."
Richmond said while her son is not religious, he did have a love of God and was approaching his journey to "see what God has in store".
"He knows it won't be nice but he also knows he has so much support. It seems like every minute of every night and day he's receiving messages on Instagram, Facebook and Snapchat. People really do love our Victor."
For now, Richmond said she was praying for a bone marrow match but also wanted to encourage people who were thinking about registering to become a bone marrow donor, to do it.
"There isn't anything greater you can give than the gift of life."
