Santa Rosa Student Honors Ailing Brother in Special Way

The love between a brother and sister is the driving force behind the ambitious project of a Santa Rosa Academy student.

Kamilah Bautista, 16, decided on a very special subject for the community service project all Santa Rosa students are required to perform sometime before graduation. In fact, she's taking it a lot further than just a school project.

Kamilah's efforts are in honor of her brother, 18-year-old Kylan Bautista, who continues to battle cancer following surgery in 2015 to remove a brain tumor.

Kamilah is organizing a Brain Tumor Walk, in which all pledges received by participants will be donated to fund "research, education and advocacy efforts to help us end this disease," according to a website started by Kamilah. She is also selling T-shirts with the inscription "No one fights alone" to raise additional funds.

Kylan Bautista was diagnosed with cancer and a brain tumor was detected after he suffered a seizure during baseball practice his senior year at Santa Rosa Academy. He had surgery to remove a tumor the size of a golf ball, then recovered enough to take part in graduation last year (right). But after suffering additional seizures last summer, he underwent several rounds of radiation and chemotherapy, which he just completed.

The family is now waiting for results of recent tests. Kylan must undergo an MRI every three months to determine his status.

"Kylan was a very active person," Kamilah said. "Now that this happened, he can't do much anymore. We want to do this walk to spread the news about cancer and raise money for research."

For more information about the May 14 walk, to be held in San Diego, or the T-shirt sale, visit this website.

Photos courtesy of Kamilah's greymatterteam website.