SOUTH HADLEY — Naomi Wood arrived at Plains Elementary School to pick up her 6-year-old son, Hunter Isaiah Wood, when she noticed him stumbling across the playground, eyes crossed.

Concerned about her child’s behavior, she took Hunter to Baystate Medical Center in Springfield. She assumed her son had astigmatism, and the doctors would simply suggest a visit to the optometrist for glasses or, worse-case scenario, laser eye surgery.

So when doctors found a tumor the size of a golf ball on Hunter’s brain stem, Wood felt her and her family’s lives turn upside-down.

“When it comes to our child’s life, you’ll do anything to help them,” Wood said. “It feels like this isn’t even real, like it’s not even happening.”

Since Hunter was diagnosed with diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma, a highly aggressive and fast-growing brain tumor, on Jan. 24, Wood routinely shares and updates his story on social media. A GoFundMe started by Wood’s best friend Lauren Hunt to cover medical expenses has raised $18,000 since its launch three weeks ago.

Wood hopes her transparency brings more awareness to childhood cancer and maybe conjures up a miracle.

“We’re not looking to be rich; we’re not looking to be famous. We are looking for some sort of cure,” Wood said. “I asked people to not take their kids for granted, because this could be their nightmare.”

After being discharged from Baystate Medical Center, Wood transferred her son to Boston Children’s Hospital, where he will undergo radiation treatment for the next six to nine weeks. The treatment, Wood said, could extend Hunter’s life expectancy from a month to between nine and 18 months.

Hunter’s medical team will also search for any clinical trials that could save his life, but these trials are few and far between: Only 4% of government funds for cancer research are allocated to pediatric cancer, according to data from the National Cancer Institute.

“The scary thing is if they decrease (pediatric cancer research funding) even more, our chances of children with cancer surviving is little to none,” Wood said. “He’s (Hunter’s) just a little boy coming from a small home in a small town, and yet he’s just looked at as a number … to the government.”

Wood describes Hunter as a joyful and energetic child who enjoys school and playing with friends on the playground. He has two sisters — an older sister and fraternal twin — who he misses while two hours away in Boston. Wood said her son’s once-bright demeanor has dimmed, but she hopes the treatment will reignite his flame.

“We’re just trying to go across all media platforms, to help where we can and share our journey so it’s less scary for other parents,” Wood said. “We want to let them know they’re not alone.”

The Wood family’s GoFundMe page is located at gofundme.com/f/stand-with-hunter-in-his-cancer-fight.

Emilee Klein can be reached at eklein@gazettenet.com.