Freshman Raul Buelvas could always be counted on for a smile.
Buelvas, who died Dec. 25 after a long battle with bone cancer, always maintained a positive attitude, even following his diagnosis with cancer and subsequent years of chemotherapy. He was receiving treatment while he was on campus in the Fall but took medical leave in early November after contracting pneumonia.
“Raul had a great attitude since day one,” said his father, Raul Buelvas Jr., Trinity ’88. “He was not bitter about his disease [and] was a genuinely positive and upbeat person.”
In 2010, Buelvas applied to the Pratt School of Engineering among other engineering programs and, upon starting at Duke, loved his introductory engineering classes. Biomedical engineering sparked his interest after he saw a TV special about injured war veterans seeking better prosthetics and other medical devices, his father said. He strongly considered pursuing graduate school in the field and becoming a researcher.
Although Buelvas, who was 18-years-old, did not have a strong passion for writing, he particularly embraced his Writing 20 class that focused on primate communication, his father noted.
“Raul struck me immediately as someone who was hardworking and determined to succeed,” his instructor, Lindsey Smith, a lecturing fellow in the Thompson Writing Program, wrote in an email Thursday. “I admire him so much for his approach to life and his positive outlook.”
Buelvas was first diagnosed with osteosarcoma—a form of bone cancer—two weeks before his 13th birthday in 2006, his father said. The cancer had spread by the time he was diagnosed, but long periods of hospital treatment and chemotherapy did not deter him.
“After his first knee replacement, he went out and played for his high school tennis team,” Buelvas’ father recalled. “After his second knee replacement, he thought tennis might be difficult, so he took up rock climbing and joined a rock climbing club near Houston, where he was getting treatment.”
Although he missed 10 to 20 percent of his classes throughout high school, Buelvas remained dedicated to his schoolwork and would often complete his assignments in a hospital bed.
“Despite everything he was dealing with, Raul was such a hard worker, and he was diligent about keeping up with his assignments,” Smith said. “That kind of perseverance is remarkable in someone who had so many weightier things to tackle in his life other than schoolwork.”
The long periods spent in the hospital drove Buelvas to create the foundation Teens Helping Others by Providing Entertainment, which raised thousands of dollars to purchase Playstation 3’s and laptops and dedicate a room for teenagers in long-term care at the pediatric hospital at Memorial Medical Center in his hometown of Savannah, Ga., his father said. At one point, almost immediately after his IV was disconnected following a session of chemotherapy, Buelvas went around other parts of the hospital to meet other teenagers as part of his organization’s efforts.
Buelvas also had a strong support network among his friends and community because his positive outlook and warmth allowed him relate to anyone, said close friend Ben Adler, a freshman at the University of Michigan, who spoke at the funeral service Dec. 27. Many of Buelvas’ friends showed their support by shaving their heads as a part of a fundraiser for Teens HOPE.
“He always had my back—it’s easy to think about him and smile,” Adler said. “Cancer never defines him. He used to think of other people more than himself.”
Although Buelvas—a member of Campus Crusade for Christ—went to chemotherapy sessions during his time at Duke, he did not readily share his battle with cancer with individuals he came to know on campus, his father noted.
Sophomore Christian Kerr, who leads a Bible study group Buelvas joined earlier in the Fall, said he did not know that he was fighting cancer until his grandfather came to move personal items from his campus residence. Kerr later spoke to Buelvas in December on the phone and through text message.
“Raul told me about his illness only when his treatment interfered with being in class one week,” Smith added. “He could certainly have used cancer as a reason for giving up, but his outlook was so mature, and it was clear that he wanted to be treated like any other college student, not a cancer patient.”
Freshman William Shelburne said he will carry a rose during a moment of silence to commemorate Buelvas’ life at Duke Chapel services Sunday.
“We went to one of the orientation week events together—that’s when I first met him,” said Shelburne, who is a fellow Pratt student. “The way that he cared about people and his family—that really stuck out to me.”
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