Maryland Trek
with Justin Berk
Age: 4
Type of Cancer: Brain tumor (low-grade glioma)
Treatment Status: Completed treatment; rebuilding strength and confidence
Gabriel was just two years old when his parents noticed a small swelling above his eye. He'd had a recent fall, so at first it seemed explainable—but the swelling would fade and return, and then they saw changes in his eye itself: a drooping eyelid, a pupil that would dilate and then ebb back. Appointments came back with no clear answers, and their instincts finally led them to the emergency room, where a fast MRI in April 2024 revealed a mass in Gabriel's brain.
“I think I was just in denial and looking for a reason to be hopeful,” his mom said of that first night, while his dad kept hoping he had simply heard the doctor wrong. Looking back, small signs came into focus—a little speech regression, moments of unsteady balance, a sudden switch to favoring his left hand—things any parent would chalk up to growing up.
Gabriel's tumor sat against his optic nerve and had both a solid and a cystic portion—and it was the cyst that grew, pressing toward his midbrain. “There was this moment where it was just like, we need to do more,” his mom said. She dove headfirst into research, working with his medical team and a naturopathic doctor to support his little body through chemotherapy—immune-supporting foods, careful tracking of his weekly counts. Doctors told the family to expect blood transfusions along the way. Gabriel never needed a single one.
Through it all, Gabriel just kept being a kid. He loves playing outside, golf cart rides, Skye from Paw Patrol, his cousins Mia, Alana, and Charlotte, and his little sister Carmela—who loves to hide in the closet to scare him. At night he asks his parents to recite the names of all his doctors: “What about the one that gives me pokes? Don't forget that one.”
One moment his mom will never forget came at a farm event held in his honor, when his gaze was still weak. Gabriel took off running in a game of chase, looking back over his shoulder—the very thing that should have toppled him—smiling, steady, daring the world to come get him.
This spring, the milestones started stacking up. He learned to ride a pedal bike in hours—his dad steadied him three times, and then he just took off. His strength came back, then his confidence caught up. “Ms. Ellen taught me how to do this and I couldn't do it. And now I did it,” he announced. And about two months ago, his parents say, his big belly laugh came back too.
Just In Power Kids walked alongside the family with support for healthy foods and groceries during treatment, and helped cover the cranial sacral therapy that wasn't covered by insurance. “That support was really meaningful,” his mom said. Her advice to other families: “Take it one step at a time. Keep asking questions. Go everywhere and ask everyone.”
Asked whether Gabriel is the strongest kid they know, his parents didn't hesitate: “No doubt. Every Power Kid, for that matter—they exhibit strength that no one even has to dig deep within themselves to find.”
