Finding His Voice – Rylee’s Story

Meet our 2023 Joe Buck Classic patient ambassador, Rylee. An 18-year-old who just graduated high school, he loves to play golf, watch Cardinals baseball and is also an aspiring sports broadcaster. After experiencing a few headaches and darkening vision, Rylee and his parents took a trip to their local hospital where a scan revealed a mass on his brain. He was airlifted to St. Louis Children’s and the cutting-edge equipment at the Joe Buck Imaging Center found the mass to be a central neurocytoma. During a 10-hour surgery, Washington University neurosurgeon Jarod Roland, MD, removed Rylee’s tumor but his family quickly discovered something was very wrong with Rylee. He had lost the ability to use the right side of his body or speak. While Rylee was scared, he never gave up. He began an intensive rehabilitation program led by speech therapy and music therapy to help him find his voice and get back on his feet.