Help Maverick Beat Brain Cancer

My name is Tara, and I am reaching out to you to help save my son’s life.

On October 30th, 2024, my 16-year-old son Maverick had a seizure in his 6th period Calculus class. As a teacher in his school, I was able to take him to the hospital right away where we discovered he had a brain tumor the size of a lime in his left temporal lobe. Maverick underwent surgery two days later, and the surgeon was able to remove the tumor successfully and completely. However, the doctors have determined that this was a high-grade glioma, which means that my son has brain cancer.

Maverick’s incision post-op after the craniotomy

Maverick’s MRI that shows his brain with the tumor on the right side of the screen and after tumor removal on the left side of the screen.

Maverick has made a remarkable recovery so far… his surgeon has performed incredible work and Maverick has retained all of his function, cognition, and personality. Maverick is still 100% himself, and he is bound and determined to beat this diagnosis. He still has a lot to do in this world, and he refuses to let brain cancer stop him.

Maverick is an incredible kid and a blessing to have. I could not ask for a better son. He is intelligent, ambitious, compassionate, popular, genuine, and kind. As a gifted public speaker, he is the founder and president of our school’s Debate team, and he is a nationally recognized speaker and award winner at Incubate Debate for Best Steelman (2024). He uses this gift to speak at local middle schools to promote the IB program and all it has to offer.

Maverick winning Best Steelman Award at Incubate Debate National Championship in Jacksonville, Florida, in Spring 2024.

Additionally, Maverick is an A Team member of our Academic Team, which competed in Nationals last year. He is also a gifted mathematician and is part of Mu Alpha Theta and tutors his peers and younger kids in math whenever they need help. Maverick even qualified for National Merit this year with the tumor, before we knew what was happening.

Maverick with his team at National Academic Competition last year.

Most importantly, Maverick is well-loved by his peers and community for the type of person he is. He is funny, vibrant, compassionate, accepting, and kind. His charisma and dynamic personality leave a mark on every life he touches.

Maverick was voted Homecoming Duke by his classmates his Sophomore year. He has been on Homecoming Court every year in high school, but had to miss this year due to his surgery.

With all of these activities, he has maintained a 4.7 GPA and is a contender for valedictorian of his class. His courses are challenging, college-level classes that include IB Physics, IB Calculus, and IB French 5, to name a few.

My son has so much to offer this world. As I am a public school teacher, we are a lower-income household, and he works hard so he can earn a QuestBridge scholarship which will pay for his college education. He hopes to attend Columbia University to major in Applied Mathematics and Political Science. He intends to continue working towards his goals throughout his cancer treatments since he is determined to beat this disease and sees a future for himself. He intends to affect this world in a positive way, work towards the greater good, and hopefully have a family of his own one day.

And one thing I can tell you about my son is he always achieves his goals once he puts his mind to something.

Maverick’s cancer team has determined he needs to go to Jacksonville for Proton Radiation Therapy. This type of therapy will target the specific cancer cells remaining in his brain while keeping the surrounding brain tissue intact. He will also begin chemotherapy at this time. The doctors determined we should expect to be there for 5 to 6 weeks, and when we return to our hometown of Pensacola, he will continue chemotherapy for an additional 44 weeks. I am taking a leave of absence from work to care and support Maverick during this time, and I am the main financial provider for our family.

Your donation will support treatment costs, travel expenses, and assistance while I am off work for his cancer treatments.

Just a few short weeks ago, none of this was a part of our world. Maverick was a healthy and thriving young man, and now he is about to undertake the fight of his life.

We calculated the odds of this happening, and it’s estimated to be 1 in over 2 million.

Please help him beat those odds.

Thank you for your donation… and thank you for reading and sharing our story. We cannot express how much it means to us.