For the second time in his life, Trey Miranda is fighting brain cancer. But, this time, he has an entire school behind him.

Wareham High School held a rally for Miranda Dec. 17, a day that had been dubbed, ‘Wear Grey for Trey Day.’ Principal Scott Palladino said the turnout in support of Miranda was “amazing.”

“I said, ‘Any kid who is wearing a Trey t-shirt or grey, come down to the gymnasium,’” Palladino said. “I had pulled out one section of the bleachers, thinking it was going to be enough. … We barely had enough room. I would say we probably had 90-something percent of the school down there.”

The 17-year-old Wareham High School student is currently staying at Boston Children’s Hospital, undergoing a combination of radiation, chemotherapy, and steroidal treatment to get rid of the two stage four tumors wrapped around his brain stem, according to his brother, Jordan Rezendes.

“The doctors are great … they are trying their hardest, and I think it is capable of keeping him alive and good,” Rezendes said. “Miracles happen, and he is improving every day.”

Miranda first underwent treatment for a brain tumor when he was eight years old. Though the doctors successfully removed the tumor, Rezendes said, they had warned the radiation they used could create more tumors. Though the tumors were apparently growing for a while, they didn’t start causing noticeable symptoms in Miranda until around Thanksgiving. Rezendes said Miranda complained of numbness in both his leg and his left arm, and collapsed while walking the following day.

“It’s only been a month, and all these symptoms occurred so quick,” Rezendes said. “He was normal, and then he couldn’t swallow, couldn’t eat, couldn’t get out of bed. He lost 35 pounds in a week.”

But Miranda has been a trooper, Rezendes said, and couldn’t stay so optimistic without the help of his friends and family. One of his best friends, Jordan Phillips, who has been visiting Miranda frequently, helped start fundraising efforts to help Miranda’s family pay for a portion of the expenses a hospital stay can incur, such as parking and food.

“We call ourselves ‘Trey’s Team,’ and that’s just a few kids from the high school,” Phillips said. “But we want to make it bigger – all the teams, all the clubs want to get involved.”

Phillips said the fundraising effort originally began when the Distributive Education Clubs of America (DECA) club at the school ordered 100 shirts emblazoned with ‘Trey 2-0,’ signifying the students’ belief Miranda will win against the cancer a second time. They wanted to sell the shirts at a basketball game, in hopes of raising a little extra money for Miranda’s family. Much to everyone’s surprise, the shirts sold out by the end of the game, and a donation bucket they had set up was also full of cash. When Phillips and several other students went to visit Miranda in the hospital Dec. 17, they were able to give Miranda’s mother about $1,000 in cash.

But what made Miranda the happiest, Phillips said, was the fact so many of his classmates showed up to visit with him.

“He was repeatedly saying, ‘This is the greatest day ever!’” Phillips said. “He is a little down, but we are trying to keep him positive.”

Though the students have already ordered 100 more shirts, Phillips anticipates ordering more in the very near future, as several people placed orders they haven’t been able to fill yet. In order to get a shirt, contact Jordan Phillips at jphillips2017@wareham.k12.ma.us. There are also ribbons for sale, and wristbands on the way.

No matter how much money they raise, though, Phillips said, he believes happiness and positivity is the most important aspect of helping Miranda through his illness.

“We need to stay strong, stay positive. That is what will get Trey better,” Phillips said. “We are family. We are all there, because Trey isn’t just a fellow student, he is family.”