Help Charl Fight Brain Cancer

My name is Katherine Schrup, Charl Castelyn is my dear friend and colleague. I’m writing to you on behalf of Charl and his husband Craig in hopes that you will be able to support them in Charl’s battle with brain cancer.

Unfortunately, this is not Charl’s first experience with cancer. In 2012 Charl was diagnosed with rare cancer in his salivary gland. He underwent treatment and surgery and was in remission. As part of his aftercare, Charl went to routine scans every 6 months. During one of these scans in 2018, Charl’s doctors noticed a mass in his brain. Looking back at past scans, they realized it had been there for years. They immediately directed Charl to the emergency room and his fight with brain cancer began. He was diagnosed with Astrocytoma with IDH mutation.

Charl underwent 2 brain surgeries to remove the tumor, one in 2018 and one in 2022. Both times his Surgeons were not able to remove the whole tumor, due to its location. He had radiation treatment twice and several rounds of different types of chemotherapy.

Through all of this, Charl continued to work as a 6th grade math teacher at MS447 in Brooklyn, continued to enjoy time traveling, and had many weekends upstate with his husband Craig and dog Odin.

In May of 2023, doctors gave Charl and Craig devastating news: even while on chemotherapy, his brain tumor was still growing.

Charl’s tumor has continued to spread and is greatly impacting his memory. He is now in need of 24-hour care and supervision. The money that you donate will be used towards this care including home health aid, physical therapy, speech therapy, and many other costs that continue to accrue while he’s fighting for his life. Things like transportation costs to and from treatments and medical appointments, medical costs not covered by insurance, bills, and anything else that might pop up along the way.

Up until just two weeks ago, Charl has continued to work as a middle school math teacher; supporting his students while persevering through some of the hardest times in his life. Just this week, when I told our students that Mr. Castelyn was sick and wouldn’t be returning for a while, they came up with all sorts of ideas to help support him. Making him cards and posters, sending him his favorite candy, and one student even asked if they could make a GoFundMe for him. These are new students that have only known him for less than two months. It’s a true testament to the impact that Charl has had on so many people. Over the last 19 years of teaching, he has touched the lives of hundreds of students.

Charl has always been a devoted husband, son, brother, dog dad, friend, teacher, and colleague to so many of us. As part of the loving and strong community that Charl has built, I am asking that you do what you can to show your support and help fight with him during this incredibly difficult time.

We want to thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your donation. If you are unable to donate at this time, instead please share this with your community in hopes that we can reach as many people as possible.

Thank you.