Twin Cities man who outlived expectations to graduate high school dies of brain cancer

A 19-year-old White Bear Lake man who defied the odds by making it to his high school graduation has died following a two-year battle with cancer.Gabe Kessel was diagnosed with a rare, aggressive form of brain cancer with no known cure in April 2024.A junior in high school at the time, Gabe had been suffering from what was believed to be headaches. He sought treatment after suffering from a severe headache at a wrestling tournament, and his diagnosis came back as a diffuse midline glioma.The diagnosis came with a life expectancy of eight to 12 months, meaning doctors did not expect him to make it to his high school graduation.But Gabe did walk across the stage last year, as reported by KARE 11. GoFundMe In a late May update posted to the family’s GoFundMe, Kessel’s father Joseph wrote that his son’s condition had worsened after exhausting “all possible medical treatments available.”On Wednesday, Gabe died of the illness at the age of 19, according to another update.“We are devastated. Our hearts have been shattered and our world torn apart. I know for certain this is a pain that will never fully heal,” Joseph Kessel wrote this week.“He was a fighter to his core and never let the illness define him or define how he lived his life. He laughed loud, loved without reservation, and had a smile that could light up the room. His personality was magnetic and everywhere he went he left an impression on the people he would meet. "He was an inspiration to many, and the world is a darker place without him in it. Most of all, he was our hero. There will forever be an emptiness in our lives where he used to be.”