KANNAPOLIS — When high-schooler Leonardo Perez Martinez discovered that he had a brain tumor, his family was prepared to do whatever it took, including clinical trials, to try and beat it. Despite his brave fight, Martinez died from his condition on Monday. He was 18.

Perez Martinez suffered from stage 4 glioblastoma for two years. When it took his life, he was only a day away from his 19th birthday.

“Leo was a wonderful young man who we lost too soon,” his mother Antonia said in a GoFundMe organized to help with funeral arrangements. “He was a son, a brother of 4, a good friend and an amazing student!”

Despite the tough diagnosis, Perez Martinez never stopped fighting.

“He fought to the very end, maintaining great strength and belief in God,” his mother said. “During his 2-year fight, he still attended high school, recognizing that knowledge was something no one, not even cancer, could take away from him.”

On Tuesday, what would have been his 19th birthday, the family visited the body at the funeral home to sing him “Happy Birthday.”

Perez Martinez became a junior marshal and graduated with Cum Laude honors. He was also a member of the National Honor Society. The young man never wanted the high-grade glioma tumor doctors found inside his head to define him. He had dreams of becoming a designer and was going to Rowan-Cabarrus Community College.

He was a son of Leonardo Jesus Perez Salgado and Antonia Carro Martinez. Leonardo graduated from A.L. Brown High School in 2023 and was attending RCCC, majoring in arts.

In addition to his parents, Leonardo is survived by two sisters, Laura Perez Martinez of Kannapolis and Lisbeth Navarrete Carro of Mexico; and brother, Alfredo Torrez Martinez of Kannapolis.

According to the Nationwide Children’s Hospital, a high-grade glioma is a type of tumor formed in the brain or spinal cord (central nervous system or CNS) through the abnormal growth of glial cells. Glial cells surround, protect and help with the functions of neurons, which are the cells that help send messages from the brain to the rest of the body.

A funeral service is scheduled for 2 p.m. Saturday, March 16, at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Kannapolis. Father Blas Caseres C.Ss.R. will officiate.

Interment will follow at Carolina Memorial Park in Kannapolis.

The family will receive friends from 9:30 a.m. to noon on Saturday at Lady’s Funeral Home.

Remembrances may be sent to the family online at www.ladysfuneralhome.com.

Lady’s Funeral Home & Crematory is assisting the family.

To contribute to the GoFundMe, search for Leonardo’s Funeral, or go to https://www.gofundme.com/f/7ftzt-leonardos-funeral?qid=2d3c6a465fa53a9982a5da6bee204e28