Ben Lozano’s fight for survival started before he was born. Under 20 weeks pregnant, Ben’s mother Valerie Lozano was pulled into the doctor’s office and given the news that her unborn son had Polycystic Kidney Disease and she was given the option to terminate the pregnancy. 

“I very nicely asked the doctor if my son could live a healthy life with one kidney. He said yes ma'am it's possible and I said ok then there is no decision to be made,” said Valerie. 

When Ben was about two and a half years old, Valerie started to notice that he walked and ran differently than other children his age. 

“Ben was diagnosed with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy which is a terminal illness with an average lifespan of 19 to 25 years,” said Valerie. 

Valerie took Ben to the ER on Halloween after being plagued with headaches. 

“In less than 36 hours he was going in for major brain surgery to remove a tumor the size of an apple from the left occipital lobe of his brain,” said Valerie. 

While his mother worried about her son, Ben had an unshakable faith that God would guide him through the surgery. 

“When Ben left us in the Fall and we learned how severe his diagnosis was, we were not sure if he would return to us anytime soon. When he came back today, so many students and staff members were overjoyed to see him,” said Greene Central Principal Patrick Greene. 

Originally diagnosed with stage 4 Glioblastoma, and given 18 months to live with chemotherapy and radiation, Ben assured his mother that he would be okay. A month later, when they got the results of the final pathology, Ben stunned his oncologist with a less severe diagnosis at stage 3 Anaplastic ependymoma. 

“Ben is such a kind and positive person, and he has kept his positivity throughout this entire process,” said Greene. “Amazingly, he has worked hard to stay involved with school as much as he could while undergoing treatment.”

Valerie is grateful to Greene Central for the love and support shown to her family. 

“They all have been absolutely amazing with their prayers love and support coming by the house to check on him calling sending cards collecting donations making items to donate for fundraisers we could never ever thank them enough and it has not just been the high school it has been all of the schools in Greene County and Ben's previous teachers,” said Valerie.

Greene Central couldn’t wait to welcome Ben back. 

“Greene Central is blessed to have some amazing teachers that worked to support him while he was out and now we are truly blessed to have him return to us,” said Greene.