Wayne gymnast's recovery from brain tumor inspires community fundraiser

WAYNE – Sitting on the back porch behind her family home, with dogs Lucy, Penny and Summer tucked away safely inside, Samantha Weite smiles, pauses and reflects.

"It's like nothing ever happened."

In 2025, something big did happen to the endearing Weite, now 21, when a mild headache turned into a severe one.

It led to the discovery of a brain tumor, then an emergency surgery (or two) that knocked her world sideways for weeks.

But as a former championship gymnast at Wayne Hills, Class of 2023, Weite is used to seeing the world sideways.

"I was doing everything, without even knowing," she said.

At the Monday, Oct. 12 Wayne Hills-Wayne Valley gymnastics meet, both squads will be selling shirts and signs to raise money for brain tumor research to honor Weite. For the last three years, both teams have worn similar pink leotards and raised money for a local cause.

"It was an easy choice this year what organization we would be raising money for," said veteran Wayne Hills gymnastics coach Cathy Peter. "I had no idea she was battling a brain tumor."

Neither did Weite.

Neither did anyone else.

How Samantha Weite fell in love with gymnastics

Weite has lived in the same house all her life, the only daughter to ToniAnn and Darren. She was at one of her older brother's karate lessons when she was young and saw that the space above the dojo was a gymnastics gym.

She signed up and was in the sport for 15 years.

"Samantha was a very talented gymnast," Peter said.

Weite has the medals – she was a state champion at the club level in eighth grade – and was part of multiple county championship teams to prove it, along with the aches and pains of any experienced gymnast.

"Everything hurts," she laughs again. "But I loved it. Just the whole team bonding was the best part of it for me. I got some of the best friends I have ever had. It also gave me something outside of normal life."

Weite dropped off of her club team before going to Wayne Hills, wanting to have some more free time for the full high school experience. She was a cheerleader and was part of SDA (Student Dance Association).

After graduating, she enrolled at Montclair State to study education.

'Worst headache' of her life

As the calendar turned to 2025, Weite couldn't ignore the headache she was having.

"They would come and go, so it was nothing we were too worried about, until I woke up one morning and it was the worst headache I have had in my entire life," Weite said. "I tried to take Advil, but a week later it was still there."

Urgent Care gave her a shot for the pain. It didn't do much. The next day, Weite went to the ER at St. Joseph's in Wayne where her mom worked.

There were some doubts. Could it just be anxiety? Weite didn't have many other symptoms. ToniAnn insisted on a CAT scan for her daughter.

There on the film was the ugly void in-between the brain hemispheres. A tumor, larger than a golf ball, intensity unknown.

Surgery was the next day at St. Joseph's University Medical Center in Paterson.

The good news was that surgeons were able to remove all of the Hunk, but it took over a week for the test results to show that it was benign.

"One testing site said it was a Grade 1, which is no cancer at all, one was a Grade 2, which means it had a slightly higher chance to grow back, but all of my MRIs have been clear," said Weite.

There was a serious complication. After surgery, Weite's brain wasn't draining fluid properly. She began to have seizures. She needed a second − less-invasive, but still serious − surgery performed to insert a drain. Then that drain had to be periodically clamped so the brain would remember how to function on its own.

How the journey changed her life's focus

Weite barely had time to tell any of her friends what happened. ToniAnn posted something on social media. Peter found out just from talking to another coach weeks later.

Incredibly, as fast as Weite was ill was almost as fast as she healed. She spent over two weeks in the hospital, but by the time she got home, she could walk, and talk and eat – the handstands came later.

"The headaches were gone instantly," she said.

Her hair looked the same. That was one thing she was worried about. She has a scar down the back of her head, but her long hair hides it.

The ordeal changed her life focus and goal. She switched out of education to a nursing track at Ramapo College. She was coaching gymnastics at her gym, Flippin' Out, in Pompton Plains, but just started working at Chilton Medical Center as a patient care technician.

"I love it. After what happened to me, I want to be the person who helps other people," Weite said.

'Honored' by Wayne Hills-Wayne Valley gymnastics fundraiser

There's a sign outside the Weite house noting their participation in the Brain Tumor Walk in New York. Weite says she doesn't mind being a cause. Life is good. All her scans have been clean. She's "Aunt Sam" to her young nephew, the dogs love her.

"It's like there was this little blip in my life," she says.

Finding out that the Oct. 12 Wayne Hills-Wayne Valley gymnastics meet would honor her was humbling.

"I never thought they would come back this many years after I graduated and say they were going to dedicate it to me," said Weite. "I feel honored."

In the meantime, Weite has challenged herself to live life to the fullest. If she wants to go on a trip, she does. She can strut across a balance beam. She has a spark in her eye and a laugh that comes easily. The sun is shining. The sky is blue. She knows first-hand that life can change in an instant.

"Live your life the way you want to," said Weite. "You never know what can happen next. That's why I do what I want to do and believe everything will fall into place after that."

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Wayne gymnast's recovery from brain tumor inspires community fundraiser