Summer Cuevas’ 9 year battle draws support from the Hancock County community and beyond
Summer Cuevas is a Hancock County warrior.
Over 1,000 members have flooded the Facebook group detailing her journey in less than a month and refer to themselves as “Warriors for Summer” and “Summer’s Warriors” as they pour in support for the mother of three from Kiln throughout her battle against a rare brain tumor that has threatened her sight.
Cuevas’ fight began nine years ago when she made a routine eye exam just before her 26th birthday. An optometrist discovered an abnormality that second opinions and long trips confirmed was a mass resting on an optic nerve.
It was such a rare tumor that there were only 17 known cases at the time of her diagnosis, according to Cuevas’ mother Beth Cuevas.
The tumor grew over several years, impacting her sight and causing mounting medical bills as insurance failed to cover certain aspects of her medical journey.
But hope, faith and persistence brought the family to Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City this year, where doctors believe they may have removed the entire tumor, which had begun to grow into Cuevas’ brain canal.
Support from home has been enormous. Money is being raised for Cuevas’ medical bills through events and selling “Summer’s Warriors” Brain Tumor Awareness T-shirts.
The Summer Seymour Cuevas Benefit event, planned for April 22 at the Bay St. Louis Community Center, will have food, live music, an auction and a cash drawing.
“The outpouring of love and support from the community has been so overwhelming, it’s like you can’t put it into words,” Beth told the Sun Herald. “To say ‘thank you’ does not seem adequate enough. You want to thank everybody for their prayers, their well-wishes and their thoughts.”
She’s even got Southern Miss women’s basketball coach Joye Lee-McNelis in her corner, who first met Cuevas at one of her basketball camps when Cuevas was young.
“I feel sure that her faith and what she has learned being an athlete, perseverance, has allowed her to push through and be so positive in tough times,” Lee-McNelis said of Cuevas, whose oldest daughter, Brooklyn, has followed in her footsteps and starred on the Hancock girl’s basketball team. “There’s no doubt that her faith in God is what she has leaned on, but through her tough times as an athlete, that perseverance and that never-give-up attitude has pushed her beyond.
“Summer, as a person, is very loving. Very giving. She’s always there to help someone else... She’s a fighter. She was a feisty little basketball player and Brooklyn plays just like her.”
Cuevas had her surgery on Feb. 28 and has been recovering at the New York hospital since. The day of her operation happened to coincide with the anniversary of her grandfather’s passing and Brooklyn’s birthday, marking the occasion especially emotional.
According to Beth, friends back home in Hancock County rallied together to make sure Brooklyn had a good birthday and even showed up to support her at her softball game.
“It just makes you feel so proud to be from a community like that,” Beth said. “Everywhere you look, it’s a God thing.”
Summer, who works at Hancock High School with kids in need of extra assistance, and her family are hoping to relocate her recovery process to the comforts of home in the coming weeks.
Even more so, they’re praying the surgeons were able to remove the entirety of the tumor.
“The most important thing is we just appreciate all the love and support and kindness from people we don’t even know have shown,” Beth said. “It’s been overwhelming.”
You can follow for updates on the Summer’s Brain Tumor Journey Facebook page.
This story was originally published March 10, 2023 at 5:50 AM.
