Moses Lake baby fights brain tumor
JOEL MARTIN | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 5 months, 3 weeks AGO
Six-month-old Aylanie Reyes is fighting for her life at Seattle Children’s Hospital.
COURTESY PHOTO/LUIS TOVAR/GOFUNDME
Joel Martin has been with the Columbia Basin Herald for more than 25 years in a variety of roles and is the most-tenured employee in the building. Martin is a married father of eight and enjoys spending time with his children and his wife, Christina. He is passionate about the paper’s mission of informing the people of the Columbia Basin because he knows it is important to record the history of the communities the publication serves. | April 8, 2026 3:00 AM
MOSES LAKE — Little Aylanie Reyes has been at Seattle Children’s Hospital since March 13, battling a brain tumor. She’s putting up a good fight, but it’s not easy, said her dad, Ricardo Reyes.
“She’s pretty down right now,” Reyes said. “They have her on morphine, for pain, and she’s pretty sleepy. She can’t eat; they have a feeding tube in her.”
Aylanie, who turned 6 months old on Sunday, just started her first round of chemotherapy, Reyes said. She’ll have six cycles of chemo for six months.
The tumor was a complete surprise, Reyes said. Her parents took her to the walk-in clinic because she was congested, he said, and the staff there saw that there was more wrong than just a cold and sent them to the emergency room at Samaritan. There Aylanie had a CT scan that showed a tumor, and she and her parents were flown right away to Seattle.
Because Aylanie is so small, surgery isn’t an option right now, Reyes said; there’s too much risk to her life.
“They’re hoping … the chemo will be able to shrink the tumor so they can remove it safely,” he said.
Reyes and Aylanie’s mother, Odalis Tovar, have both had to take time off work. The parents have been spending their time either in Aylanie’s room or lodging provided by Ronald McDonald House, Reyes said. Their employers have been supportive, Reyes said, but they don’t have paychecks coming in, and eventually, he’ll have to go back to work.
Odalis Tovar’s brother Luis Tovar has started a GoFundMe page for the family, which had raised $8,760 as of Monday morning. Tovar, who speaks Spanish, said through an interpreter that the family is having a difficult time.
“They’re feeling sad and hopeless, because they never thought this was going to happen to them,” Tovar said.
Besides donations to the GoFundMe, the family can use prayers, Tovar said.
“Your kindness and generosity mean the world to us, and we are deeply grateful for everyone standing with our little warrior and our family during this time,” he wrote on the GoFundMe page.
Those wishing to donate to Aylanie’s family can visit https://bit.ly/AylaniesFight
ARTICLES BY JOEL MARTIN
Klompen Farms named Hay King and Queen at Grant County Fair
MOSES LAKE — Klompen Farms of Royal City is the 2026 hay-growing champion of Grant County. Owners Bob and Anne Wieldraayer were named Hay King and Queen at the Grant County Fair Aug. 18, winning both first and second place for export alfalfa with Alforex AFX 439. The first-place ribbon was for the farm’s first cutting, which the Wieldraayers did on April 26. It was very early in the year to cut, Bob said, but he wasn’t going to be available for a while after that and wanted to get the cutting out of the way. The second-place entry was from the fourth cutting, which the Wieldraayers, with help from their daughter Erin Wieldraayer, baled Aug. 15. That was also a little early, Bob said.
Flannel Fest brings back the sounds of the ’90s this weekend
MOSES LAKE — The organizers of Flannel Fest are turning up the heat this year. Literally. “One of the things we noticed last year was that after about six o’clock it got pretty chilly,” said Grant County Fairgrounds Director Jim McKiernan. “So we invested in some big propane heaters. We’ll have heaters in the bar building and for the pit in front of the stage.” Flannel Fest starts Friday at the Grant County Fairgrounds, featuring tribute bands that reproduce the grunge and alt-rock sounds that defined the 1990s.
Moses Lake DAR regent honored as Outstanding Junior
MOSES LAKE — Stephanie Massart, regent of the Moses Lake-based Karneetsa Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, was honored earlier this year with the Washington State Outstanding Junior Award by the DAR, according to a press release from the chapter. The award is given to active DAR members 18-35 years old who demonstrate service that is above and beyond, according to the DAR website. “It’s really a big deal because they recognize younger women who have a lot going on – career, families – and they want to illuminate those individuals who are giving of their time not only to the (DAR) but in their communities,” Massart said. Each chapter nominates an individual member, Massart said, and those are entered in the state competition. From there, the state nominees compete at the national level, where the field is narrowed down to eight finalists, one of whom this year was Massart. The final winner was Sasha Atherton Quillin of Maryland, according to an announcement from the DAR.