No Shave November fighting for kids cancer

SARASOTA, Fla. (WWSB) -Brody was like any other young boy, excited about life and ready to join the football team.

“He had waited an entire year to play tackle football with his best buddy Chase”, explained Tammy Bates, Brody’s mom. However, it is through football that they learned about Brody’s cancer.

He started to feel bad and they decided to take young Brody to the doctor. This led to a CT scan and eventually an MRI. This is when the news broke. “They came back and gave us the news that as a parent you’re never prepared to hear and that was that your child has a brain tumor,” Tammy said. They went into surgery and after the surgery, the surgeon told them that the tumor was the size of his fist and was cancerous. This occured in 2007.

Brody went through radiation as well as chemotherapy and fought very hard. He continued to go to school to see his friends and tell them exactly what he was going through. In addition, he also made new friends through Cure the Kids and the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation.

He made it through all of his treatments, but the day came back for his checkup in 2009 and they’re about to receive the news they didn’t want to hear.

“He had progressed and it had come back with a vengeance, it had spread all over his brain and all down his spine. So from there it was just memory making, explained Tammy.

However, Brody was determined that he was going to finish second grade and he did. Unfortunately, two weeks after finishing second grade he passed away at the age of eight.

His legacy and impacts continue, Tammy explained, “He asked me one time you know, mom, why do I have this? I didn’t know exactly how to explain it to him and I just told him that sometimes special people are called for special purposes and that he was very special.

Brody was very special, a special boy who was still touching the world as his mom carries out his legacy by working for the foundation.

Tammy Bayes now serves as the National Director for the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation’s and leads development operations strategy, supports the foundation’s fundraising operations, infrastructure, and analytics, builds out platforms for improving donor stewardship and engagement, and oversees the development and elevation of digital fundraising strategies, annual appeal campaigns, grants, and new revenue-generating programs

Bates stated, “I’m fortunate, I count it complete privilege and honor that I get to work with this foundation because I get to pay it forward for Brody. I truly believe if he was still living today. He would be right here beside me and we would still be working on paying it forward.”

Campaigns like No Shave November help fund organizations that help fight kids’ cancer, you can donate by clicking here.

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