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Mentally, he was the same 13-year-old boy: Happiest holding a lacrosse stick and surrounded by his friends.
Physically, he couldn’t move.
Braylon’s body was stiff. He needed a walker to get around and was losing the ability to talk.
His parents, Kasey and Ryan, felt helpless, and wished they could do something for his pain. But Braylon only apologized to them. “I’m sorry,” he’d say.
Sorry that they had to see him in pain. Sorry that they couldn't do anything about it.
The Montclair middle schooler had no choice but to get used to the pain and discomfort he first knew in October 2022, when he was diagnosed with DIPG, an aggressive brain tumor that he ultimately succumbed to on Sept. 12, 2023.
The NY Jets, though, they made it better.
Last June, Braylon — a lifelong fan — slowly pushed his walker onto the team’s practice field in Florham Park, surrounded by a few of his friends and the team.
Since he was a tot, Braylon was the one doing the cheering for the Jets. This time, they were cheering for him.
“Jets on three: 1, 2, 3…” “Jets!”
For a moment, Braylon felt normal. No, he felt like a rockstar.
Braylon walked off the field with a signed Aaron Rodgers practice jersey. He wore it proudly as the Jets played their first fateful game of the season. You know, the one that left their QB with a torn Achilles.
The next day, Braylon slipped away.
Braylon’s dad doesn't care all that much about the score this year: “They already won in my eyes.”
Braylon was a student at Buzz Aldrin Middle School and enjoyed playing with his older siblings. Aven is a multi-sport athlete at Montclair High School, and Ryder is a standout golfer at Bergen Catholic.
Lacrosse was Braylon's sport. He was a goalie, and he loved it.
Two weeks before Braylon's diagnosis, he told his dad, "Dad, I'm starting to see double."
Ryan Hodgson thought maybe his son was starting to get migraines, like he had growing up in Wyckoff. But all of a sudden, Braylon's eyes crossed.
"We brought him to a normal eye doctor... but she said, 'You need to go to the hospital — now,'" Ryan said.
That was Oct. 2, 2022. On Oct. 3, Braylon was diagnosed with DIPG.
"Zero percent survival rate," Ryan said. "His body was so tight he didn't have the ability to move his arms or legs. Cognitively, he was 100 percent there."
The family's priority became spending time together. Doctor's orders.
"And then," Ryan said, "we went into fighter mode.
"We tried to find any trial with some sort of success, to give him a chance at life. It just didn't work out."
Three days before Braylon passed away, he got a bad skin rash. It was the side effect of one of his medications. Braylon didn't care. He wanted to live.
"In his mind, he was like, 'I've got to take this medicine, I have to get better,'" his dad said.
"Over the last year, Braylon was a child who showed bravery and love for his parents and always wanted to protect them from what he was going through," Ryan said in his eulogy.
"In honor of Bray, please cry, smile, laugh, care about others, and just enjoy life daily."
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