St. Jude patient Braylan faced cancer like a superhero

Braylan’s favorite superhero is the one who runs faster than anyone else. A close second is the one who can fly and see through walls.

The 6-year-old has an impressive collection of action figures, more than 25, counting the ones he’s collected during his treatment at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital®. “I can’t even get in my room because I have so many,” Braylan said, laughing.

Every birthday party had a superhero theme, save his most recent when he went with a sports motif. His first featured a space ranger with wings that pop out at the push of a button, followed by a red-suited wall-crawler, a shadowy protector in a cape and cowl, four pizza-loving martial artists in shells, and the wall-crawler again.

Even his hospital bed became a superhero sanctuary, complete with themed pillows and blankets. Braylan brought action figures to every medical procedure. They made him feel stronger. Braver.

After surgery to place a medical port in his chest, Braylan declared, “I’m Ironman!” (Like the genius inventor’s embedded device, Braylan’s port held its own kind of power.)

“The doctor told him, ‘Now you’re a superhero, too,’” Braylan’s mom, Lynisha, said.

But Braylan has something on his favorite superheroes. None had to face the worst bad guy of all. Braylan has.

Dunking — and a diagnosis

Braylan is the youngest of Reginald and Lynisha’s four children. Bright and outgoing, he loves school, sports and church. He’s so joyful he often bursts out in his “happy dance.” 

The family lives in a small Louisiana town surrounded by woods, rolling hills and reservoirs, perfect for gardening, hiking, fishing and riding four-wheelers together. Lynisha, who grew up there, now drives a school bus, often transporting kids she’s known all their lives. They’re well-behaved, maybe because she has their parents’ numbers on her phone.

Reginald, originally from a nearby town, met Lynisha at the wedding of his sister and her cousin. He works at a plant that manufactures windows and doors.

Braylan is always on the move — swimming, biking, jumping on the trampoline, diving for footballs. If he falls, he gets right back up. So, it was out of character when he complained of back pain in December 2024. He’d fallen twice during a basketball game, so his parents thought he’d pulled a muscle. When rest and massage didn’t help, they suspected a cracked rib. 

Not that it slowed Braylan down. “The day before we took him to the pediatrician, he was out playing basketball with his dad, dunking and everything,” Lynisha said. Braylan laughed, “I can’t dunk—I’m too short!”

Braylan’s pediatrician ordered X-rays and then called that evening asking them to return the next day for more. In her office that day, she told them to go straight to the hospital an hour-and-a-half away. No stopping at home. Just go.

At the hospital, there were more X-rays, one doctor after another examining their son. Whatever it was, Reginald and Lynisha knew it was bad. “You could see it in their faces,” Lynisha said. “Everybody was looking at us so sad.” More tests, more exams and more waiting. On New Year’s Eve, a pediatric hematologist-oncologist gently explained what was wrong. 

Braylan had a malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor, or MPNST, a cancer of the cells that form the protective coverings surrounding certain nerves outside of the brain and spine. It is a rare and aggressive soft tissue sarcoma uncommon in kids.  

Braylan’s tumor was so large it engulfed much of the right side of his chest, impacting three of his ribs and leaving little room for his right lung to expand. “I didn’t know how to wrap my head around it,” Lynisha said. Their happy 6-year-old had been running around and playing, all while this tumor grew inside of him. 

They would have done anything to take his place. “As a father, your biggest goal is to want to protect your family,” Reginald said. “You’re supposed to be able to take away their pain. You’re supposed to be their Superman.”

Superhero attitude

Braylan was referred to St. Jude for treatment. The family arrived on Jan. 15, and Braylan started treatment the next day. “It was like bam, bam, bam. Our heads were spinning,” Reginald said. “St. Jude moves fast.” There were more tests. The surgery to put in a medical port that would allow the care team to deliver his medicine. Chemotherapy. 

On March 6, surgeons removed Braylan’s tumor, leaving an S-shaped scar on his side. Braylan raised a fist: “S for Superman!” 

Braylan recovered quickly. As soon as his endotracheal tube came out, he asked for a submarine sandwich. “I was doing the happy dance,” Braylan said. Five days after surgery, his chest tube came out, and Braylan got out of bed. Flanked by medical staff, he was supposed to walk down the hallway, but Braylan ran. Like a superhero.

Braylan still needed radiation therapy and more chemotherapy, but he was back to his old self. “He just livened back up,” Lynisha said. 

There were tough times of course when Braylan was tired or hurting or nauseous. To get through it, Braylan listened to music, searching online for older tunes with lyrics that spoke to him, such as his favorite, Mary J. Blige’s 1994 “My Life.” Braylan concocted elaborate handshakes for his dad and the medical staff. And the family prayed, Braylan insisting on praying for the medical staff and other patients before himself. 

“He actually helped us to not be as stressed out and be in worse shape than we were in with his attitude,” Lynisha said. That’s a superpower, too. 

“Even though he’s still a kid, I have so much respect for him because he’s so strong,” Reginald said. Not only Braylan but all the kids at St. Jude, playing and laughing, despite what they are going through. Reginald vowed to never again complain, not about anything. “It’s a humbling experience,” he said.

This experience changed Reginald. “I wasn’t a people person going in,” Reginald said. He was reserved and kept mostly to himself. Now he’s opened up, talking to people, asking questions, and listening. He smiles more easily — and more often. “It brought the best out in me,” Reginald said. “Now I have a voice.” He’s using it to tell anyone who will listen about St. Jude.

Superheroes all around

Kids can tell a superhero by their costumes, capes and cool gadgets. Grownups like Reginald and Lynisha recognize the real ones. They’re everywhere at St. Jude.

Doctors who told the truth with compassion. Nurses who made Braylan laugh through procedures. 

Cafeteria workers, shuttle drivers and security guards who offered smiles and kind words.

Psychologists, social workers and child life specialists who helped the family process the unthinkable. 

Other patient parents — veterans of the journey who received training as part of the Parent Mentor Program at St. Jude — who reached out with support, advice and comfort.

“We couldn’t have asked for it to be at a better place than St. Jude. They gave me all the hope in a world that I could ever have,” Lynisha said. “I just thank God for St. Jude and all the doctors that are here treating my son and all the other children. I feel like without St. Jude my son may not have been here.”

Braylan has just finished the most intensive part of treatment and is now on maintenance oral chemotherapy. His latest scans show no evidence of cancer. Braylan is excited to be back home with his three older siblings and two French bulldogs, Ike and Tina Turner. His hair, once black, has grown back a silvery blond after chemotherapy, giving him a superhero glow to match his cool new scar.

If he could choose his own superpowers, Braylan said he’d want to fly and — even better — to save people. He wants to work at St. Jude one day, so he just might do that.

“He’s already a little superhero,” Lynisha said. His superpowers: courage, determination, family, faith and joy. His parents want him to grow up happy, healthy and strong. “In life, he’s going to succeed,” Reginald said. “I tell him, ‘You made it through this — there’s nothing you can’t do.’”