Jesselyn Silva is 17 years old and lives in New Jersey with her dad and her little brother and sister. She was diagnosed with DMG in July of 2021, but before that, she was on her way to becoming an Olympic athlete. We want you to have a better understanding of who she is.

Who is Jesselyn Silva?

• Jesselyn began boxing at the age of seven after going to the boxing gym with her father for the first time. 
• In 2017, the New York Times featured the promising young athlete in an Op-Doc titled, “Girl Boxer: A 10-Year-Old Breaking Barriers,” which you can watch, here.
• In 2018 she became a brand ambassador for the athletic brand Everlast and was also featured in a book of short essays called, “Nevertheless, We Persisted.”
• Watch this clip of Jesselyn on the Today Show in 2019, here.
• Jesselyn’s love for books inspired her to publish her own called, “My Corner of the Ring.”
• Her favorite book series is “Diary of a Wimpy Kid.”
• Also in 2019, she ranked number one in the USA Junior Olympics National Boxing Championship (you can watch the winning match here). 
• Jesselyn has been the subject of the documentary, “JessZilla,” since she was 10 years old (watch the trailer here).
• At the CRF 13th Annual Celebrity Gala, Jesselyn was given the 2022 CRF Warriors Award. View Video

On July 28th, 2021, Jesselyn was diagnosed with DMG and her world stopped. Jesselyn went from having the quickest hands in the ring, to not even being able to bathe on her own. In March 2023, Jesselyn began the CAR T CELL trial in Seattle in hopes to bind the cancer cells together and kill them. Most recently, Jesselyn has returned home, responded well to the trial and her latest MRI showed no tumor growth! 

CRF needs your help in raising funds to get Jesselyn into a clinical trial. We want to save her and give her the chance to go back to being the fiery competitor that she once was, but we cannot do it alone. Your donation means the world to Jesselyn and her family and also brings them hope.