Ronil’s story
Ronil Mehta, son of Manisha and Milan and older brother to Sahil, fought a courageous 31-month battle with DIPG, a terminal pediatric brain cancer. His journey, from January 2016 to September 2018, is one of immense courage and strength, inspiring us to cherish the present, never lose hope, and live life to the fullest despite every challenge.
Ronil was a kind, fun-loving kid who loved baseball, basketball, karate, and skiing, and had a fascination with technology and politics. He loved the beach and the water, playing video games with his friends, and dreamed of becoming a pilot.
In November 2015, during his 12th birthday party, Ronil experienced his first headache. The headaches grew more frequent but were dismissed as migraines. On January 7, 2016, while getting ready for school, he collapsed and was diagnosed with a DIPG tumor in his brainstem. He fell into a coma. Doctors encouraged his parents to consider taking him off life support.
A week later he woke in the ICU, unable to move, able to communicate only by blinking. Yet he met the situation with a bravery that never left him. He understood and accepted treatment options for this deadly disease without fear or self-pity.
Through radiation and physical, occupational, and speech therapy, and sheer determination, Ronil regained strength. He returned home after a four-month hospital stay. He started going to school again, and threw himself back into life: snowmobiling, indoor skydiving, tackling his homework independently, never losing his integrity or playful charm.
Ronil made his own decision to have his capped trach tube removed, prioritizing his quality of life above the doctors’ concerns. He selflessly accepted a UCSF clinical trial, aware of its limited impact on his outcome and potentially severe side effects, driven by the belief that it could benefit future children.
In January 2017, his health declined and scans revealed disease progression. He underwent emergency hydrocephalus brain surgery and was re-radiated, but his tumor continued to progress as he again lost his ability to talk or walk. In April, doctors delivered the heartbreaking news that he had just two months left to live.
Determined to find a potential solution, Ronil’s family reached out to doctors in Monterrey, Mexico, and got him admitted into an experimental treatment program combining intra-arterial chemotherapy and immunotherapy. The treatments showed some reduction in tumor size, and Ronil returned home for his middle school graduation, recognized for his bravery and for spreading DIPG awareness in his community.
Despite his limited mobility, Ronil continued doing the things he loved, communicating through alphabet apps and body language. He enjoyed movies, restaurants, and board games, keeping up with politics and his favorite basketball team. Ronil’s story reached Stephen Curry and President Obama, who sent him personal messages of encouragement.
He enjoyed being a teenager, going to high school as a freshman, and spending quality time with friends and family. Ronil and his family persevered through monthly visits to Mexico for treatments until May 2018, when they had to stop as his tumor metastasized.
Ronil spent his final months in hospice care. In rare moments of wakefulness, he expressed his love and encouraged his family to continue living their lives after he was gone.
On September 1, 2018, the first day of Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, Ronil passed away peacefully at home.
Honoring his final wishes, his family donated his tumor to Stanford Hospital for DIPG research. It became one of the only Wild-Type cell lines used in DIPG research and trials worldwide. Through that gift, Ronil’s legacy reaches far beyond his own journey, offering hope to children with DIPG today and in the future.
With Dr. Michelle Monje – Professor of Neuro-oncology and Neuroscience at Stanford Hospital
Today, the Brave Ronil Foundation exists because one young boy showed the world what courage truly looks like. Every family supported, every research project funded, and every life impacted carries forward the hope that Ronil inspired. His story remains our reason. His legacy remains our mission.
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