It is with fierce hope and deep admiration for our dear friend Zay Rios (Xae) that I share his story. To his extended family of friends, acquaintances, fellow music lovers who’ve felt his soulful spirit through song, and even those who’ve crossed his path just once. Right now, Zay needs us, and he cannot do this alone. This GoFundMe is a chance to give back: to surround him with care and help him climb the steep financial hill of recovery.

In September 2024, Zay’s world profoundly shifted when he was diagnosed with testicular cancer. What began as the removal of a large tumor on his right testicle (benign at the time) unraveled into something far more daunting: 9cm metastatic, neoplastic tumors in his thoracic cavity, wrapping around his stomach and heart. The months that followed brought excruciating pain that tested his every fiber. He lost his mobility, relying on a wheelchair and even crawling at times, as 25% of his muscle mass vanished, leaving him too weak to stand.

This journey has been physically humbling, heartbreaking, and sadly, very lonely. A reality shift no one could prepare for, reshaping his perspectives on nearly every facet of life. Zay has faced multiple procedures to manage complications from weakness and fatigue, spanning digestive and reproductive challenges (some too personal to detail here), alongside endless tests. He just completed his fourth and final round of chemotherapy, which has been shrinking the tumors but also stripped away nearly half his body weight—85 pounds in total. But if you know Zay, you know he’s still singing through it all as he’s crawling forward, standing taller each day, and fighting for his beautiful life. Ounce by ounce, he’s reclaiming his body back and regaining his strength. His determination is a quiet roar that humbles me, and I hope it inspires us all to show up however we can, to roar this battle cry alongside him.

Through it all, the toll it’s taken stretches beyond physical. Every penny of his savings poured into the relentless costs of survival: treatments, medications, therapies, and the basics of getting through each day. From extremes like: not being able to afford housing, to more simple things, like: nourishing food to fuel his fight, Zay is doing his best of persevere. Even with his family’s support this past year, he’s fallen behind on essentials, with threats like potential eviction, a phone line at risk of shutdown, and the displacement of immobility. It’s a load no one should carry alone, especially someone who’s spent a lifetime uplifting others with his music, art and big heart.

Your support today will ease these burdens directly: covering outstanding medical bills, rebuilding therapies to restore his strength and mobility, daily living expenses during recovery, and safeguards against those immediate threats. We’re aiming to cover some immediate expenses and to create some breathing room on this path, but every donation—no matter how small—is a lifeline, a vote of confidence in his healing, a note in the song of his battle cry. Please share this, drop him a message of encouragement, bake him something nourishing, or simply hold him in your thoughts and prayers. Each gesture weaves a stronger safety net around the man we love and aren’t ready to let go of anytime soon.

To everyone in this village of allies: thank you for reading, for giving, for being the chorus that lifts him. With deep gratitude, endless love, and unshakeable faith in Zay’s light, let’s keep it shining and harmonize to his song of healing. It doesn’t have to be pretty or in tune, but let’s make it loud.