Help Braelyn Continue Her Brain Cancer Treatment

My name is Amanda, and I am the mother of an incredible 19-year-old young woman named Braelyn.

The day after Braelyn turned 16, our lives changed forever.

Braelyn began having seizures, difficulty speaking and numbness on one side of her body. She was life-flighted to a children's hospital, where we learned she had a brain tumor. She was ultimately diagnosed with an aggressive, grade 4 brain cancer.

We were initially told that Braelyn might have only months to live.

More than three years later, she is still here — and she has never stopped fighting for her future.

Before cancer entered our lives, Braelyn loved horses and was beginning to learn barrel racing. She loved choir and theater in high school, animals, children, her friends and her family.

In May 2025, Braelyn graduated from high school, something we weren't sure we would get to see. This fall, she started college. Her goal is to become a Child Life Specialist, helping children and families navigate frightening medical experiences — something she now understands in a way very few people her age ever could.

That is the future we are fighting for.

We found hope — but we have to travel 4,000 miles to reach it

Over the past three years, Braelyn has endured multiple brain surgeries, serious postoperative infections, seizures, radiation and rehabilitation. More recently, she has experienced significant weakness and loss of function of her dominant hand, as well as difficulty communicating.

When Braelyn's tumor progressed, we began pursuing a personalized cancer vaccine called DCVax-L.

DCVax is an individualized immunotherapy manufactured specifically for Braelyn using her own tumor tissue and her own immune cells. The technology was developed through decades of research in the United States, including work led by Dr. Linda Liau and her team at UCLA.

Yet Braelyn cannot currently receive DCVax in the United States.

Instead, we must repeatedly travel from our home in South Carolina to London, England, where she receives DCVax through a special-access pathway under the care of Professor Keyoumars Ashkan at King's College Hospital.

The irony is difficult to comprehend:

We travel approximately 4,000 miles across the Atlantic for an injection appointment that takes only minutes.

The cost is staggering

DCVax is not covered by our health insurance.

The manufacturing and initial three-dose induction phase of Braelyn's personalized vaccine cost approximately $101,000, not including the additional expenses of collecting her immune cells, specialized transportation of her vaccine, physician and administration fees, and repeatedly traveling to the UK.

Braelyn has completed her induction phase and first booster, but her treatment is far from finished.

She currently has seven additional DCVax treatments planned:

November 2026 • March 2027 • July 2027 • January 2028 • July 2028 • January 2029 • July 2029

Each treatment trip is expected to cost approximately $35,000:

~$27,000 — DCVax dose

~$1,400 — specialized transport of her vaccine to London

~$2,700 — physician/treatment administration

~$2,200 — airfare for Braelyn and a caregiver

~$1,700+ — lodging and necessary travel expenses

Seven treatments × approximately $35,000 = approximately $245,000.

That is why we have set our fundraising goal at $250,000.

And July 2029 may not be the end. Enough doses of Braelyn's personalized vaccine were successfully manufactured to potentially allow treatment to continue for years beyond this schedule if her physicians recommend it. For now, we are concentrating on the seven treatments directly ahead of us.

Why another fundraiser?

Some people who have followed Braelyn from the beginning may have seen our existing GiveSendGo fundraiser. We want to be completely transparent about why we are now creating a GoFundMe.

Our GiveSendGo was established near the beginning of Braelyn's cancer journey in 2023 and has raised more than $90,000 through the extraordinary generosity of people who have supported, encouraged and prayed for our daughter.

Those donations have already gone toward treatment expenses incurred over the past three years.

For 27 months, Braelyn received a previous treatment that cost approximately $17,000 every month, plus as much as $600 per month in shipping. We ultimately paid more than $475,000 for that treatment alone.

We then paid approximately $101,000 for the manufacturing and initial phase of DCVax, followed by additional medical expenses, her first booster and repeated international travel.

Our family has already incurred well over half a million dollars in treatment-related expenses.

The $250,000 we are raising now is not reimbursement for those past expenses. It is what we expect to need going forward for Braelyn's seven currently scheduled DCVax treatments through July 2029.

We are keeping GiveSendGo open because some of Braelyn's longtime supporters prefer that platform, including some who faithfully support her through monthly donations. GoFundMe simply provides another way to help. Both platforms support the same ongoing treatment fund — they are not two separate $250,000 fundraising goals.

Why we are asking for help

For more than three years, we have done everything within our power to give our daughter access to treatments we believe offer her hope.

We will get Braelyn to London for her treatments.

But continuing to fund treatment at this level would mean exhausting our retirement savings and potentially selling our home. After already incurring well over half a million dollars in treatment expenses, we are asking for help carrying an extraordinary financial burden.

As Braelyn's mother, asking other people for financial help is not easy. But there is something much bigger than my pride at stake.

There is my daughter.

The young woman who was told at 16 that she might have only months to live is now 19 years old and a college student.

She still laughs with her family and friends. She still makes plans. She still has dreams.

Braelyn is fighting for a hope and a future. And we are fighting alongside her.

Every donation — whether $5, $25, $100 or more — helps carry part of the enormous cost of continuing her treatment.

And even if you aren't able to donate, please share Braelyn's story. One share can put her story in front of someone who may be able to help.

Most of all, please pray for our girl.

From the bottom of our hearts, thank you for helping us continue this fight.

Amanda & the Hollensbe family

Follow Braelyn's journey on X: @HollensbeAmanda

Learn more: CureNotCovered.com