Miguel Cervantes, star of Chicago’s production of “Hamilton,” tearfully opens up about his young daughter’s epilepsy on Wednesday’s episode of “Rachael Ray.”
Adelaide was diagnosed with epilepsy after she began having seizures at seven months old. Cervantes and his wife Kelly, who appear on Ray’s daytime show via Skype, discuss their work with CURE, an epilepsy research organization founded by Susan Axelrod, who is married to David Axelrod, former adviser to President Barack Obama; and the support they’ve received since they moved to Chicago.
“Moving from New York at the time that we did, we were in a pretty tough spot with (Adelaide). Being able to come here and set up our family here and the medical care here has been just unbelievable, and the community has been great. My family in ‘Hamilton,’ they have been nothing but supportive,” Cervantes said.
“People after the show are always asking me, ‘How’s your daughter, how is she doing?’ So, it just feels like this is the right place for us, this is the right place for my family. It’s a hard journey with her, but being somewhere like this, it feels like this is going to help us to move forward.”
Ray surprises the couple with a $10,000 donation to CURE from Happy Family Organics, an organic baby food company. “Rachael Ray” airs at 10 a.m. weekdays on WGN-Ch. 9.