Braison Daniel Gates

Braison Daniel Gates was born on December 16th, 2016 in Camp Hill.  He lived his life in Marysville, PA, and left this world peacefully in his sleep after a courageous fight with cancer on December 20, 2024. He was just 8 years old.

Braison was always a fighter. Born at just 23 weeks and 1 ½ pounds, he fought and beat the odds to survive. He needed help breathing until he was 2. He was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy and Autism before the age of 5. He fought hard to learn to speak. He learned to communicate with sign language until he could fully share his words. As he got older, he even got to go to school for two school years. There, he worked hard - and grew by leaps and bounds. He amazed his teachers with how much he learned and improved. He even found a passion – cars and trucks. He had hundreds of Matchbox and Hot Wheels cars in his room that he loved to play with every day. He could identify almost every car or truck by their logo from age 4 on up.

He was kind and friendly to everyone he met. He always said “thank you” when you did something for him or gave him a present.

He loved calling out “Hi!” to people as they passed by whenever he went out. And he loved his nurses. They were his closest friends since he came home from the hospital. He formed special bonds with many of them. He even called his day nurse, Claudine, his “best friend” because she took him to all his appointments, went to school with him, and even took him on outings on her days off.

But life is not always fair. Braison was diagnosed with a Wilm’s tumor in the summer of 2024. Most cases are caused by genetic mutations in kidney cells that happen after birth. Some people are born with these genetic mutations and are at risk for other medical problems. He had a mass and a kidney removed during the summer of 2024. Doctors hoped that would be all he needed, but sadly, the growth returned and he did not survive.

He is survived by his mother Sarah Gates of Marysville and father Shawn Banks (wife Dawn) of Williamsport.  He is also survived by his sisters Destany and Danay Lansdowne, brother Channing Kountz, his Aunt Shelly Banks, two uncles (John and Bryan) as well as two cousins and 4 step siblings.

A funeral service will be held at St. Margaret Mary's Catholic Church on Paxton Church Road in Harrisburg on Saturday, January 4th, 2025 at 11:00 am.

The family would like to thank all the nurses/staff from Home 2 Stay, the CAIU teachers/therapists, and Hershey Med. Center medical staff and therapy dept. for their years of care for Braison.  They would also like to thank all those who supported the fund raising efforts (GoFundMe and others), the 4 Diamonds fund, and the teachers/staff of the Susquenita School District.