Cancer Took Caleb Boulware, But This Vanderbilt Football Family Knows That He's Healed

NASHVILLE—He doesn’t do it often, but Simeon Boulware sometimes wills up the strength to swing open the connecting door and peer into the bedroom on the other side of what was once a shared bathroom. In a less cruel world, Boulware would step between the four light blue walls of the room and let out a greeting to his brother Caleb Boulware.

Boulware and his family would do anything to do that one more time. They still wrestle daily with the reality that they’ll never be able to again. Caleb is gone, a victim of cancer’s brutal reign of terror–which ensured that this family won’t ever be quite the same.

When any member of the Boulware family musters up the courage to open that door, they’re taking the risk that they could be left there in pain thinking about what once was. The room used to include a gaming setup, a bed and their beloved Caleb. Now it’s dark, only includes a few boxes and is a symbol of their family’s unmeasurable loss and grief.

“When I see that, I just shake my head,” Simeon Boulware–a junior defensive lineman at Vanderbilt–told Vandy on SI. “I just say ‘this is so sad.’”

Boulware, his two parents and his sister Sydney all have fond memories of Caleb and his infectious energy bringing life to the room. But, they have to work to make sure those memories aren’t overcome by the ones of cancer demonstrating its cruel power while Caleb fought for his life. Even if they want to escape from their grief, Caleb’s room is on the same floor as every other room in the house and has an unavoidable pull.

On the other side of Caleb’s fight, the Boulwares plan to move out of their Dacula, Georgia, home and start a new era of their lives–which they had considered doing before Caleb’s diagnosis, but opted against so that he could be comfortable. For now, though, they’re left to pick up the pieces in an effort to keep his memory alive and work to rationalize their sufferings.

Deep down, they know that rationalization may never happen fully.

“What’s most likely is that it’s that we live in a fallen and evil world where bad things happen to good people,” Raleigh Boulware–Simeon’s dad–said. “My hope is that one day [Simeon] and his sister can move on with their lives, get their own families and leave the impact of this to me. Put it on me, don’t even put it on my wife anymore. Sometimes you wonder if it’s something sinful, or something bad, or something evil that you’ve done that God is punishing you for.”

Vanderbilt football, Simeon Boulware — The Boulwares still can't fathom losing Caleb (No. 50) | Renee Boulware

The sun has left the sky in Dacula as Renee and Simeon Boulware sit at a table inside Dacula High School’s season-ending football banquet. Simeon is the introvert of the family and is in his element quietly taking in the event. Caleb, though, well, he’s in the middle of the room socializing with everyone.

Nobody who knew Caleb was surprised by that.

He was the life of the party. He was a developing chef. He was as positive a person as his parents knew, even in the midst of his fight. His heart was full of love for others. Every part of his 6-foot-1, 230 pound frame was matched by the warmth of his soul. Without him, life in Dacula is quieter and less warm. Those who knew him miss him and his ability to captivate a room dearly.

“He was just so funny and so entertaining,” Renee Boulware said. “He loved his teammates. That right there, that was his pain pill–his football and his football teammates and coaches.”

To this day, Simeon looks back at Caleb’s life and recalls how much joy he walked through it with. Simeon acknowledges that he often struggles to be around company in big social settings, but says that his brother excelled in those situations. He wants to honor Caleb by embracing life and putting himself out there while doing so.

Caleb did that even while going through Chemotherapy. He did it while most would’ve let their circumstances determine their attitudes. Even when cancer threatened to take the Caleb that those who loved him knew, he always kept his spirit.

Up until the end, he never stopped being Caleb.

“He enjoyed life way more than I do,” Simeon Boulware said. “Most of the time, he had a smile on his face. He was happy. He had more jokes than I did and he had more friends than I did because he was talkative. He knew how to talk. I would just say this; he enjoyed life.”

Caleb was Renee’s “ride or die,” her “big baby boy” and reminded her and Raleigh of all the good things in life. She still watches all the videos that she took of her late son that he hated at the time. Now, she’s overjoyed that she has them. They’re the only thing left that allows her to hear his voice.

It’s been over a year since Caleb’s passing, but the Boulwares still struggle to adjust to life without him. Oftentimes, it’s Simeon who steps up to console the rest of the family and to remind them that Caleb has moved on from his earthly struggles and into a better place. Renee knows that, but a call with her still includes a few tears and a moment in which she steps back to control the anger she has towards cancer for taking her son.

Then, she snaps back into it and remembers the good. She remembers why his obituary reads that “He was an example to his family, friends, teammates, peers, and anyone who knew or met him.”

Once the tears stop, she remembers Caleb’s love for God, football, food–his best dishes were steak and lobster tails and he was notorious for his effective use of seasonings–and how she knows exactly where he went after his death. She has no doubt about that, but she badly wants to see it for herself.

“I wish I could just hear him say ‘mom, it’s great up here! I’m fine!’” Renee Boulware said. “I just want to hear his voice, but I know he’s good. I just want to hear his voice say ‘I’m good.’”

Vanderbilt football, Vanderbilt vs. Austin Peay — Caleb Boulware was the life of the party. | Renee Boulware

Renee was up all night with a pit in her stomach. She knew deep down what was coming, but she hoped with every fiber in her that she was wrong. She prayed that this would be a blip on the radar.

Caleb was having severe recurring knee pain, but the Boulwares aren’t ones to panic over injuries. Renee and Raleigh played Division-I sports, Sydney is a softball player at Georgia State and Simeon was entering his second season as an SEC football player. Caleb followed the family trend and was an offensive lineman at Dacula high school. Attributing his knee pain to the impact of football on his body was the easiest—and appeared to be the most logical—conclusion.

Eventually, the pain was notable enough to convince Raleigh and Renee that their son’s knees were going out and that they needed to take him to the doctor. They expected that he’d need ACL surgery and wouldn’t be able to play football for six months to a year. That in itself would be severe, but it would’ve been minor in comparison to what doctors found.

Caleb’s x-rays were concerning enough to prompt the first doctor he saw to refer him to a more specialized provider that could diagnose him based off of his x-rays. When Renee heard that, she knew. It was cancer. It had to be.

She was right, and it was worse than she thought. It was an aggressive form of Osteosarcoma—a rare cancer that begins in the cells that form bones. Renee’s first question to the doctor was an inquisition about what stage the cancer was in, the doctor replied that assigning a stage to something like this wasn’t really plausible. She brushed it off, asking if it was plausible that Caleb could make a full recovery.

X-rays, CT scans, biopsies and a specialized cancer doctor concluded that the cancer had spread everywhere. What did that mean for her son, Renee asked. The doctor replied that Caleb–a mere high school student that was a light in his parents’ lives–only had one or two more years to live.

“My world was gone. My heart–I just…everything left my soul,” Renee said. “We are people of faith. Strong faith. Love the Lord Jesus Christ and have lived out life for him. Instead of reading the Bible, we were living it out now. We all believe–and I’m such a big encourager about faith and about the Lord Jesus Christ. I am the biggest encourager. I would help somebody through this, but at this time I couldn’t help myself.”

Renee’s immediate reaction after looking into Caleb’s eyes and seeing the despair in his face was to declare that cancer would get a fight out of Caleb and his family. She asked the doctor if he’d ever seen a miracle in a case like Caleb’s and when he said no, she replied with optimism that this would be the first one. Maybe that was the athlete in her, she jokes.

Despite Renee and Raleigh’s best efforts to keep it together and push forward, they struggled to come to terms with how something so cruel could happen to someone like their son. They knew Simeon would, too, so they gave then-Vanderbilt defensive line coach Larry Black a heads up before telling Simeon. When the time was right, Black texted Simeon during a class and told him to come to his office. Simeon thought he was in trouble and came quickly, only to find Black sitting there with a look that indicated that something was wrong. He asked if Simeon had talked to his parents and told him to do so.

When Simeon called his parents, they handed the phone to Caleb who delivered the news. Simeon’s heart dropped, but he held it together while Black and Vanderbilt head coach Clark Lea made an effort to console him. When he left the building and plopped down in the driver's seat of his car, he lost it.

“I started balling,” Simeon Boulware said. “I was saying ‘why, Lord? Why is this happening to us? Why?’ And, honestly, that was just the beginning.”

Simeon couldn’t help but take comfort from a Bible story where Jesus healed a blind man and told onlookers that the man’s blindness wasn’t a result of he or his parents’ sin, but was a part of his story so that the glory of God could be shown through him. The story gave Simeon hope that his brother could be used in a similar way.

Vanderbilt football — The Boulwares believe that there's something to be learned from Caleb's story. | Renee Boulware

The Boulware’s never lost their hope that a miracle would be performed through Caleb, but the cancer took over almost instantly and forged a destructive path. Renee thought she wouldn’t see its effects until a few months after Caleb’s diagnosis, but it only took a few hours.

Nobody involved knew how Caleb’s story would end, but they were certain of one thing; they weren’t going to let cancer stop him from living his life. He was intentional about handling his chemotherapy, but he also made time to workout, go to physical therapy and lift weights. Renee still laughs when she recalls that a doctor told her that Caleb was the first person he’s ever seen that gained weight during chemo rather than losing it.

But, at a point, there was only so much anyone could do.

Raleigh was at every appointment with his son while Renee often had to step out to protect herself. Caleb gave the fight everything he had. It was an admirable fight, one that’s a testament to his character. He did everything he could. So did his parents, but they were merely delaying the inevitable at some point.

“Being up there in that children’s hospital is no different than being in a prison," Raleigh Boulware said. “The outcomes are the same. Your life is completely gone. It’s ruined. It’s gone, whether it’s your fault or not. From this perspective of life, it really doesn’t matter.”

Caleb had over 70 tumors on his body. Some were the size of a penny. Some were half the size of a pinkie finger. Caleb also had to have his femur removed, which the Boulware’s remember as the worst part of his treatment. His condition became so dire that Renee and Raleigh had to watch him closely and take care of his every need like he was a child again.

Yet, neither of them minded. They’d both go back to doing it in a heartbeat.

Instead, Raleigh Boulware sits heavy hearted on this August afternoon, scarred by what his family has been through. The last interaction Raleigh had with Caleb before Caleb was sedated for good was fighting alongside his brother to prevent Caleb from ripping off his oxygen mask after his first sedation wore off. Once the second sedation was implemented, Raleigh sat there for 14 hours and watched Caleb’s oxygen levels drop until he was gone.

The same pain in Raleigh’s voice as he describes that moment is present when he outlines May 13, 2026. Caleb was hooked up to machines, but was insistent that he was going to beat this. Then, his doctor broke the news to him. He wasn’t going to survive. Caleb was begging to live, yet he was sitting there heading towards death.

“I saw that 18-year old child cry and cry,” Raleigh Boulware said. “That will haunt me for the rest of my life.”

Unbeknownst to the Boulewares, Lea had something up his sleeve. It was SEC Media Day in Atlanta–Lea’s biggest press conference of the year–just under a month after Caleb’s death, and he thought that Caleb had to be a part of it.

“Grieving the loss of Simeon Boulware's brother Caleb, who lost his battle with cancer in June,” Lea said from the podium in his opening statement. “Caleb graduated from Dacula High School, class of 2025. Was a dedicated member of the football team there. Heartbroken for Simeon and the Boulware family, and continue to keep them in our prayers.”

The statement was only a few seconds of Lea’s 32-minute meeting with the national media, but the Boulwares still light up when the message is brought up. When Renee and Raleigh received the video in a text message from Black–who has since become the defensive tackles coach at Michigan–they were stunned. They still are today.

Renee never imagined that Vanderbilt’s coaching staff would be as involved in their fight as they’ve been. When they received Caleb’s diagnosis, Vanderbilt director of football operations Jake Jola got Simeon on a plane almost immediately and Lea called to let the family know that he was thinking of them.

The Boulwares get the dynamic that Lea navigates as an SEC head coach with an overloaded plate and haven’t expected to be top of mind to him, but they’ve never felt as if he’s forgotten about them. In the hours leading up to Caleb’s death, Lea was pacing around the Vanderbilt facility talking to Raleigh and Renee on the phone. On the one-year anniversary of Caleb’s passing, Lea honored him in the post-practice huddle.

“I’m very, very grateful that he still remembers my brother to this day,” Simeon Boulware said. “The program has definitely helped me get through this.”

Simeon arrived at Vanderbilt as a three-star recruit in 2024, but hasn’t seen the field yet. He’s determined to become an impact player for the first time in 2026 and is fighting to get his name somewhere on Vanderbilt’s depth chart. Even if he doesn’t, he doesn’t appear to regret his decision to choose Vanderbilt and stay with the program through his personal trials–which also include an ACL injury.

As much of a self-described introvert as Simeon is, he doesn’t want to imagine what dealing with Caleb’s passing would have been like without his teammates present. And by present, he means literally present.

On the day of Caleb’s funeral a bus full of Vanderbilt defensive lineman, Black and Vanderbilt chaplain Lance Brown showed up to honor him. Raleigh and Renee were shocked. The drive from Vanderbilt to North Metro Baptist Church is four and a half hours, but they made it anyway.

At the funeral, they walked behind Simeon as he followed the casket to the car. When the car drove off and Simeon dropped his head, his teammates gathered around him and started praying for him. The moment still brings Renee to tears.

“They took care of my son for me in that moment, Vanderbilt did,” Renee said, “During a time where I couldn’t because there were so many people there and it was a fog. It was a fog until somebody tapped me on the shoulder and said ‘look’ and I saw them surrounding and taking care of my son. That made a mommy’s heart so happy.”

The truth is, though, Vanderbilt's defensive line room embracing Simeon was a no brainer.

“I love that guy to death,” Vanderbilt defensive lineman Issa Ouattara said. “I feel like I’ve known him my whole life at this point. He definitely feels like a younger brother.”

Every member of the Boulware family has a list. There’s a few dates that they have stuck in their minds that they cannot forget, no matter how much they want to. June 18, 2025–the date of Caleb’s death–is one of them. February 28, 2024–the day of Caleb’s first x-ray–is another. The staple of those days is the pain that they inflicted. There’s another date, though. A joyful date.

It’s May 13, 2025, the same day that the doctor told Caleb that he would soon pass away. The moment was grueling, but it pales in comparison to the moment that defines the day in the Boulware’s minds. When Caleb heard the news, he cried out to Simeon to tell him more about the gospel message and what it actually means.

Simeon sat there and broke it all down for him. By the end of the conversation, Caleb got it. He gave his life to Christ, genuinely this time. He repented of what he’d done. He committed to living however much life he had left for God.

Raleigh says the moment is among the best of his life. Renee cries tears of joy referring to it. Simeon says that the way God worked through him that day is beyond him and provides his family a certainty that it wouldn’t have otherwise gotten.

“I know that one day I will see him again,” Raleigh said. “It ain’t just something that’s good preacher talk, like ‘oh, we know he’s in a better place.’ No. No. No. No. No. I know what he did. I know how his life changed. I know that he gave his life to Christ. I know that, according to the scriptures, he is in Heaven.”

The Boulwares knew that Caleb committed his life to Christ as an eight-year old, but they saw a different level of sincerity in him on May 13. That day, any doubt as to whether he would be in Heaven was wiped away. They know he's there. They have no question about it. Caleb was fighting for his life, he was losing strength every day, he was inevitably heading towards the end. But, he gave God everything he had.

On June 16, 2025, Renee pushed Caleb into North Metro Baptist Church. He proclaimed that he wanted to be baptized, and his parents were going to make it happen. He was on an oxygen tank and could barely move, but he was going to do it. It took an hour for those close to him to get him into the water because of the challenges the oxygen tank provided, but he finally made it to the water. He was finally dipped, and the crowd of over 100 people–which is among the biggest crowd for a baptism in church history–celebrated him.

That night, Caleb’s parents took him back to the hospital. He lost his life two days later. The Boulwares weeped and weeped. But, they had hope. They still do.

“God, he healed my brother,” Simeon said. “He still healed him. Caleb’s not here, but he healed him. He healed him in Heaven even though he didn’t heal him on earth.”

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