Hunter Ellett, 5, beat a brain tumor and found Jiu-Jitsu
After two brain surgeries, the Canton, Georgia boy is back in school and back on the mat, training side by side with his mom
Hunter Ellett is only 5 years old, and he has already been through more than most people face in a lifetime. The boy from Canton, in metro Atlanta, beat a brain tumor after two surgeries. These days he splits his time between kindergarten and the Jiu-Jitsu mat, where he trains alongside his mom, Jenna. Atlanta station 11Alive shared his story on Wednesday, Oct. 21.
Hunter and Jenna started training together in January 2025. Almost two years later, the mat is his favorite place to be. He loves sprinting across it, and he is not shy about taking his mom as a training partner either.
In the 11Alive footage, Hunter trains in a blue gi and a gray and white belt at a Gracie Barra school. The banner on the wall carries the names of coaches Fabio Costa and Marcia Carvalho, of Gracie Barra Georgia, and of their daughter, black belt Keanna Klay, who competes at The Crown 2026 in November.
“He was a little shy when he first started, and now he’s got all his friends,” Jenna told 11Alive, describing her son as loving, caring and very adventurous.
A seizure that looked like choking
The road to the mat was a tough one. The first warning signs were seizures that the family did not recognize at first.
“The first time he had a seizure, I thought he was choking,” his mom recalled.
The episodes kept coming. Then, during a visit to the pediatrician, Hunter had a seizure right there in the office. An MRI finally gave the family an answer, and it was the one no parent wants to hear: a brain tumor.
“Looking at your beautiful baby boy and… it just felt like the end of the world,” Jenna said.
Two surgeries in Atlanta
Hunter needed two surgeries at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta to remove the tumor. Before the first one, the family had no idea what was coming next.
“We were obviously very scared, you know, what was life going to look like on the other side before his first surgery,” his mom said.
Dr. Joshua Chern, a neurosurgeon at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, told 11Alive that seeing Hunter back in action is incredible. For him, that is exactly the goal of treatment.
“What we want to see is someone who goes on and live a normal life, even to the point of forgetting about you,” Chern said, calling that the best case scenario.
Back on the mat, back in school, back to being 5
Today Hunter is back in school, back on the Jiu-Jitsu mat and, as the 11Alive story put it, back to just being 5.
“Every day is a blessing. He’s just doing really great,” Jenna said.
The story aired the same week as Cape Day, a Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta campaign set for Friday, Oct. 23, that raises support for kids being treated at the hospital and celebrates them as real-life superheroes. After a brain tumor, two surgeries and treatment, Hunter has more than earned a cape of his own.
Kids Jiu-Jitsu keeps growing across the United States, and stories like Hunter’s show why: the mat gives children confidence, friends and time with their families.
Do you know a kid whose comeback story started on the mat? Tell us in the comments.
Source: 11Alive.
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