Cameron’s family and friends run in the St. Jude Memphis Marathon® to continue a tradition he started

Those closest to Cameron Huelin stood at the starting line at the St. Jude Memphis Marathon® on Saturday, December 6, 2025, with joy that masked a quiet ache beneath. Many had run the race before, but this time was different. Cameron wasn’t standing with them, leading “Team Huelin” like he had done before. Cameron had died 8 months earlier, on March 18, 2025, at the age of 23, from brain cancer. 

His parents, Tamarin and Scott, his wife, Allie, his brother, Jeremy plus other family and friends were still adjusting to life without him, but they wanted to participate in the marathon weekend again to honor Cameron and to raise funds for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital® where Cameron had received treatment.  

“Our gratitude is immense for the work and the people of St. Jude,” Tamarin said. “There is no cure for Cameron's cancer at this point, but we are sure that one day, St. Jude will be a part of locating a cure.”

Allie, who had not returned to the St. Jude campus since her husband’s death, said it was important for her to keep Cameron’s legacy of supporting St. Jude alive. The team, which she organized, drew the largest participation in 2025, with 35 family members and friends, some traveling from as far as Rhode Island, California and Utah.  

“After losing him, I felt lonely,” said Allie, who ran the full marathon for the first time. “But seeing how many people wanted to come out to support us was the most important thing. I expected the day to be heavy, but I felt empowered, I felt a lot of joy running that day, because I knew we were running for a good purpose and we were supporting the hospital that had taken such good care of us.” 

It was just one year before, in 2024, when Cameron and his family traveled to Memphis for the same marathon. A day before the race, Cameron had learned at his checkup at St. Jude that scans showed new tumors in his brain.  

“His sweet doctor came in with tears in her eyes, and we knew we didn’t have a lot of time left,” Allie said. 

Still, that next morning, Cameron woke up early, ready to run. He and the rest of the 20 plus team members took their places at the starting line, each having signed up for different race distances. Together — spread across the course — they were running for something that felt bigger than themselves. 

“Even though we were facing one of the most horrible things I could ever imagine, St. Jude was going to be with us, and we wanted to be with them. They had been allies to us, and they were going to be allies with us till the very end,” Tamarin recalled thinking as she tackled the 10K course. “We had a lot of gratitude, but also a lot of sadness, but also a lot of hope, because Cameron just never wanted cancer to be hopeless. He didn’t want to dwell on that. He set the tone that day, and we followed.”  

Built to serve

Cameron grew up in west Tennessee. He was confident and articulate. He excelled academically in school and athletically on the soccer field, cross-country courses and in the gym. 

“He loved to run a race and be part of a team and see the team win,” his mom said.  

His interest in the military grew while he was working at a local farm when he was 16. The farm’s owner had been in the U.S. Army Special Forces and he and Cameron talked for hours about military life. Cameron secured a full college scholarship through the ROTC program and headed to school in California. It was during orientation on the first day of college when he met Allie. 

“The quality of his character was so apparent. He was kind to everybody, and he was honest and sweet, and fun to be around,” Allie said. “It really was love at first sight for both of us. We were best friends and it was easy to be around each other.”  

While he studied and dated Allie, Cameron also participated in military training where he got to jump out of a helicopter and do other extreme activities.  

In October of 2022, during his senior year in college, Cameron began experiencing fatigue, headaches and vision problems. He was diagnosed with stage IV astrocytoma, a central nervous system tumor in the frontal lobe of his brain. Cameron underwent surgery in California to remove as much of the brain tumor before he received a referral to St. Jude.   

In Memphis, Tennessee, Cameron underwent a second surgery to remove what was left of the tumor. During the surgery, doctors used imaging to monitor how the procedure was going. 

 “The doctor said they had gotten 98% of the tumor out, and he said he would go back in if he had to,” Tamarin said. “The doctor had such a heart. I don’t think we ever met one person, even in the lab, that didn’t care deeply.”  

The team at St. Jude researched Cameron’s case, analyzing his brain tumor to develop a personalized plan for his care and recovery. Once Cameron healed from his second surgery, he received six weeks of proton beam radiotherapy, which allows the energy and depth of the protons to be matched to the tumor’s size and shape, sparing healthy tissue surrounding the tumor. He then began a protocol that included oral chemotherapy.  

Even while in treatment, Cameron never stopped being positive and always looked ahead, preparing for his future. He returned home, continued taking college courses, worked for a construction company, and a few months after diagnosis, he proposed to Allie. They were married in the summer of 2023. Later that year, he participated in the St. Jude IRONMAN 70.3 Memphis and participated in his first St. Jude marathon.

One of Tamarin’s fondest memories at St. Jude was when her son’s treatment team surprised him with a celebration for his engagement in his exam room, complete with song, a poster and confetti.

After the new tumors were discovered in December 2024, Cameron had several conversations with doctors and his family about the next steps. With the help of St. Jude, Cameron was able to enter a trial at the National Institutes of Health in Washington, D.C., which he had hoped would give him more time.  

“He knew that there were no other options, and he knew it would prolong his life but not much. He knew he had months,” his mom said. 

Cameron, who was firmly committed to his Christian faith, kept positive. He didn’t like to focus on his cancer and rather wanted to live his days to the fullest. In February 2025, a loss of motor function sent him to the nearest emergency room. Cameron was transferred to St. Jude, where he was placed in hospice care.  

“We felt so supported at St. Jude, not just medically but emotionally,” Allie said. “They took such great care of us, and all the nurses were so gentle, and knew how to handle the situation and love on us.” 

Allie said she plans to participate in the St. Jude marathon every year. 

“Cam loved St. Jude a whole lot,” she said. “He was so passionate about St. Jude, and our experience was so incredible. We were going through something really hard, but St. Jude made the cancer experience for us the best it could be, so Cam was always wanting to give back, which is why we run the race and fundraise.”