OCOEE, Fla. — On July 22, 2020 Aaron Wilson posted a question-and-answer video to his YouTube Channel, Foreign Aaron.

What You Need To Know

  • Ocoee defensive end Aaron Wilson worked hard to be college football player

  • During the journey, he was diagnosed with a brain tumor and later died

  • Family, friends are working to keep alive the memory of "A4"

  • They hope to start a scholarship and foundation in Wilson's memory

“Is your dream to go to the NFL? If so what team would you like to play for?” he read. “My dream is not to go to the NFL. My dream is to go to college and see where that takes me. That’s basically my dream. My dream is not to go to the NFL. If I go to the NFL, that would be nice, but my dream is not to go to the NFL. My dream to go to college and ball out.  Ball out, ball out, ball out!”

Not many people knew at the time that Wilson was battling an aggressive form of stage 4 brain cancer called midline glioma.

“The diagnosis was April 9th [2020].  We were actually here working out in the back of the neighborhood,” his father, Art Wilson, remembered.  “He said he had a headache so we had given him some Tylenol, and later he said he still had a headache. We asked if he wanted to go to the emergency room, and he said yes.”

Hardest battles for the best angels

Aaron Wilson was a four-star defensive end prospect with offers from more than 15 schools. He played his sophomore year at Ocoee High School and then transferred to St. Frances Academy in Baltimore, Md., for the second semester.

“And I was like, 'Why do you want to go?' ” Art remembered.  “He said, 'I want to play against the best competition.' That’s the type of kid Aaron was. He always wanted to play against the best.”

Not long after enrolling, St. Frances was forced to send its students home because of the COVID-19 pandemic. That’s when that fateful trip to the emergency room occurred. Doctors originally thought it was a migraine, but as the headache persisted, tests revealed the tumor on his brain.

“I asked the doctor was it treatable and he said yes,” Art said.  “So once he said it was treatable, it gave us a little more sigh of relief.”

Aaron underwent chemotherapy and radiation and made holistic changes to his life.

“So I recently turned vegan,” Aaron posted to that same YouTube video.  “The changes I done saw from my vegan diet like my body been feeling better. You really feel better when you on a vegan diet.”

Through it all, Aaron continued to attend virtual class and train.

“None of his teachers even knew he had cancer, none of 'em,” Art said.  “Aaron really wanted to keep this secluded quiet. He just wanted to keep on being a regular kid.”

In January 2021, Aaron was getting ready to go back to St. Frances when he suddenly threw up. Tests showed two new tumors on his brain. Doctors were able to surgically remove them, but the cancer had spread to his spine.

“So they treated it with radiation, but once it spread to the spine, it was pretty much….waiting for a miracle,” Art said.

Long live A4

Aaron passed away on April 26, 2021.  His funeral was held at the River of Life Christian Center in Orlando.

“God gave Aaron as an offering so that we can learn how to love, how to live, how to give and how to grow," Antwan Nelson, a family friend and Aaron’s youth coach read during the reflections portion of the service. 

The funeral crowd was dressed in black and red, Aaron’s favorite color. His jerseys from Pop Warner, West Orange, Ocoee and St. Frances adorned his casket, which was surrounded by flowers and pictures of Aaron.

“I thank you A4, and I will never forget you. And as we all say, 'long live A4.' God bless you,” Nelson said.

Attendees stood and applauded, then lifted their hands and held four fingers in the air.  

“Aaron used to say God gives his hardest battles to his best angels,” Art said.  “God doesn’t make mistakes. We think that God makes mistakes and God doesn’t make mistakes. He knows what he’s doing. And that’s one of the things that we as a family… we have grown stronger in faith.”

Aaron’s family wants to start a scholarship in his name. They’d also like to create a foundation to help other families with children battling brain tumors. Ocoee and West Orange are currently in talks to name their rivalry trophy after Aaron. St. Frances is awarding his number 4 jersey to its team MVP each week.

“Just have to learn to live with it and deal with it, get through it…grieve,” Art said.  “At the end of the day, we know that Aaron’s looking down on us saying, 'Hey, Dad, pick it up. Hey Shawna, Shawna Mom pick it up, keep it going.'  So that’s what we are going to do.”