Noah Pila is tall, young, handsome and athletic, and competes for Kamehameha Schools Hawaii in perhaps the most Hawaiian of team sports, outrigger canoe racing.
Pila manned the oar in his familiar second seat in the canoe, as he and his fellow Warriors won the Big Island Interscholastic Federation varsity boys’ championships on Jan. 21 at Hilo Bay. He plans on doing the same Saturday at the Hawaii High School Athletic Association championship regatta at Keehi Lagoon on Oahu.
“I’m feeling great. I’m feeling like we’re going to win a state championship,” Pila told the Tribune-Herald on Wednesday.
That confidence sounds matter-of-fact coming from the skilled 18-year-old waterman. What makes it extraordinary is that Pila had major brain surgery to remove a cancerous tumor less than two months ago at The Queen’s Medical Center in Honolulu.
“It was kind of like, ‘Why does it have to be me?” Pila said. “But also accepting that I need to just power through this.
“I’m just eight weeks out of surgery right now. I’m already back in school and, basically, doing everything that I was doing.”
Pila’s mother, Anna Golden Kaaua — who‘ll also be at states coaching Keaau High School’s BIIF champion girls and mixed canoe teams — said her son underwent “major brain surgery” on Dec. 9.
“His head was cut open from ear to ear, and they removed a large part of his left frontal lobe. They got the tumor, which was a pretty big-sized tumor, and they took out some of the surrounding tissue,” Golden Kaaua said. “Since then, he’s recovered amazingly. All of the doctors are just in shock at how fast he’s recovering.
“The school’s been really supportive and helpful with this, because he still has some challenges with memory. But he can read and write — things he couldn’t do immediately after surgery.”
The tumor, a grade 4 astrocytoma, announced its ominous presence after a canoe regatta on Dec. 3.
“After that race, he had a seizure while he was talking to me,” Golden Kaaua said. “And that was the first time, ever. He’s never had anything like that before. I was in complete shock, really, because he’s been so healthy, with no medical issues ever.”
Magnetic resonance imaging at Hilo Medical Center discovered the malignant growth. Pila was transported to The Queen’s for surgery.
“They first told us we were going to be there for, like, six weeks, but we were able to come home in 2 1/2 weeks,” Golden Kaaua said. “He’s doing amazing, recovering from the surgery. However, the type of brain cancer he has is the worst type of brain cancer you can have. And it’s at the highest grade you can have. It’s a grade 4, which is very aggressive and severe.”
Survival rates for stage 4 astrocytoma, also known as glioblastoma, are low. According to the American Cancer Society, the five-year survival rate for glioblastoma is 22% among patients ages 20 to 44 and drops precipitously among older patients.
“Because of the severity of the cancer, he has to work with a neuro-oncologist. And Hawaii doesn’t have any of those, so we’re getting referred to San Francisco,” Golden-Kaaua said.
The City by the Bay is home to the University of California San Francisco Brain Tumor Center, one of the nation’s top facilities for cancer of the type Pila suffers from. There, he’ll receive a five-week cycle of chemotherapy and radiation.
“I’m just going to do it and, hopefully, be done with it,” Pila said.
According to Pila, his teammates are treating him ” basically the same way” they always have.
“I told them I don’t want them treating me any differently,” he said.
Doug Gray, aquatics coordinator at KSH, described Pila as “a great person, super strong-willed.”
“He’s the type of person who can actually overcome this,” Gray said.
Chin Yung, one of the team’s two coaches — Keahi Warfield is the other — said Pila is “an amazing individual, definitely a core part of our team.”
“Paddling’s a team sport. They not only support each other on the water, they support each other off the water,” Yung said. “They’re just rallying behind him as a team, as a school, as a town. We’re just glad he made it here to be a part of the BIIF, and now comes this journey to the states.”
A family friend started a GoFundMe.com fundraiser titled “Noah Pila Takes On Cancer.” As of Thursday, $76,041 had been raised toward a $110,000 goal.
“I really appreciate it. It’s helped me to not worry about having to pay for things and just fight the battle,” Pila said.
While monetary gifts will definitely help, Golden Kaaua said that “thoughts, prayers and good vibes” sent the family’s way are also important.
“We’re very thankful for that,” she said.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
Email Kelsey Walling at kwalling@hawaiitribune-herald.com.