My brother Jake was 31 years old when he was diagnosed with glioblastoma, the most aggressive form of primary brain cancer in adults. His initial diagnosis gave him 1-2 years left to live.

Glioblastoma is a rare and devastating cancer. Only a little over 12,000 people in the US are diagnosed with it each year, and it is a disease that primarily affects people much older than Jake. The median age at diagnosis is 65, but Jake was 31.

Before cancer entered our lives, Jake's life looked like that of so many other people his age. He was building a career he enjoyed, spending time with his family, fiancé and friends, and planning for a future. He had recently been promoted to general manager in one of the most lucrative restaurants under the Heritage Group in Newport, Rhode Island. He had worked incredibly hard to get there and was exactly where he wanted to be. Then, one seemingly normal night, everything changed.

After getting home from a long day of work in June 2025, the first symptoms presented themselves. Sudden partial blindness and confusion caused a fear and panic in Jake leading to a trip to the emergency room. Immeasurable head pain, convulsions and vomiting soon followed. Scans were immediately taken and the results were terrifying — a mass was discovered in the right hemisphere of his brain.

After being rushed from Newport Hospital to Rhode Island Hospital further imaging was conducted. Over the next week Jake endured a series of tests, scans, spinal taps, and MRIs until there was only one option left to get a definitive diagnosis: brain surgery. It’s hard to imagine the type of fear that strikes your heart when you’re waiting to undergo a brain biopsy.

After weeks of an agonizing wait, genetic testing confirmed the worst. Jake not only has a grade 4 glioblastoma, but a unique and inoperable mutation that is unlikely to respond to chemotherapy or radiation. He described what it was like to receive that phone call and a prognosis of 2 years of life expectancy: “Have you ever had a nightmare so heartbreaking and vivid that when you wake up all you can do is take a deep breath and thank god it’s over? It’s kind of like that, but you never wake up.”

That was 15 months ago and Jake is still fighting. In fact, he has already given us reasons to be hopeful. Glioblastoma is known for how quickly it can grow and spread. But throughout Jake's treatment, his tumors have shown surprisingly little growth — a small miracle.

None of this has been easy. Jake has undergone countless tests and scans, brain surgery, and taken a daily medication that aggressively fights his tumors but impacts his whole body, causing migraines, seizures, vision trouble, and joint pain, among other side effects. Through every appointment, scan, setback and new unknown, he has continued to take whatever comes next in stride.

And through all of it, we've tried to make sure Jake still gets to be Jake. From hiking Beehive in Acadia (a feat he may never forgive me for suggesting) and forcing innumerable fishing trips on his fiancé, to lazy days spent cheating at Catan, Jake has found the strength to continue doing the things he loves in unimaginable circumstances. Those moments have meant a lot to all of us. They're also a reminder of how much life Jake still has to live.

But the treatments helping Jake fight glioblastoma have also taken an enormous toll on his body, impacting every aspect of his daily life from his sleep to his diet, and taking away his ability to drive or work. While his current treatment has slowed growth, his doctors expect that it will stop working one day as his cancer learns to adapt to it. His doctors have now recommended that he combine his current medication with the experimental use of an anti-parasitic medication, which has shown promising signs of potentially killing cancer cells. For Jake, it could mean another way to not only keep the cancer stable, but to give him a chance to shrink the inoperable tumors he has now. His insurance has unfortunately denied coverage and initial estimates are that it will cost over $50,000 per month out-of-pocket.

Our goal is to raise $75,000 to give Jake access to this next step in his treatment and help cover the cost of other treatments that could reduce the pain and side effects he’s facing, including stem cell treatments that could improve his quality of life during this fight. We want to make sure that if there is another treatment his doctors believe is worth trying, money isn't the thing that prevents him from having that chance.

Fifteen months ago, Jake was handed a diagnosis none of us could have imagined. Since then, Jake has fought hard with an incredible medical team behind him. His determination and optimism have been nothing short of inspiring. And so far, he has given all of us a lot of reason to keep hoping.

We don't know what the future holds, but Jake is still here, and this is a real chance to take the next step. It can’t wait.

So if you're able to donate, any amount will help us get Jake closer to accessing this treatment. Every donation, no matter how small, has an immeasurable impact. And if you can't donate, simply sharing this page and helping us get his story in front of more people means just as much to us.

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts, for standing with Jake.