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Albert “David” Filer V was around 7 years old when his mother went upstairs to wake him up in the morning. Filer was stretching and yawning and still seemed tired, so Pam Mozdzierz-Filer asked him if he wanted to sleep a bit longer.

He responded: “No mom, I’m a hello world kind of guy.”

A quizzical look crossed Mozdzierz-Filer’s face. She had never heard that phrase before. She wondered where it came from.

Filer explained to his mom that from the moment he opens his eyes each morning, he just wants to get out of bed and be with people. He doesn’t want to miss out on anything.

“I was amazed at my son’s understanding of the world,” Mozdzierz-Filer said. “At 7-8 years old, he understood that each day of life was to be embraced and that is how he lived.”

Sadly, Filer’s life was cut short after only 16 years. The blue chip standout died on March 12th after a year-long battle with brain cancer.

Hundreds traveled to South Bend, Indiana to attend Filer’s funeral. The family rented a conference room after the service that overflowed with people sharing their stories and memories of the young man with an infectious smile and giving heart.

“It was amazing,” said Filer’s father, David Filer IV. “People came from L.A., Miami, Orlando and Atlanta as well as all his friends from the Midwest. It was quite the showing to send him off with.”

Filer was diagnosed with Glioblastoma Multiforme, an aggressive form of brain cancer, on Feb. 15, 2022. His family had just relocated to Orlando, Florida so Filer could more seriously pursue his tennis dreams.

Filer was playing ITF events when he began having intense headaches during travel. After the first two episodes in Wisconsin and New Jersey, Filer was able to still play in the tournaments and perform at a high level.

During the J5 event in Medford, New Jersey, Filer pushed Canadian William Bartram to three sets in the second round before losing 7-6(5) in the third.

“It was the best I’d ever seen him play,” his dad said. “Little did we know, that was his last match as far as in a tournament.”

After traveling to Phoenix with his mom, Filer experienced a headache that wouldn’t go away. He couldn’t get out of bed in the morning and started throwing up. His mom rushed him to the emergency room.

The doctors ordered a CT scan and discovered a large mass on his left temporal lobe. Filer was sent to nearby Phoenix Children’s Hospital for emergency surgery.

“It turns out he sees one of the best pediatric brain surgeons in the whole nation. When he was finished, the surgeon said he thought he got it all and he did visibly,” Filer’s father said. “But the problem is it depends on if it was Grade 4 or not. If it’s Grade 4, it’s like a finger that can stick inside your brain. So even if it looks like everything is gone, they can leave some inside.”

Although Filer was able to start hitting tennis balls again only five days after the surgery, his vision began to decline once he started radiation and chemotherapy treatments. But his family knew it was good for him to get back to his happy place on the court to do what he loved most.

His USTA national coach Eric Nunez provided unwavering support and encouragement. USTA paid for Filer to attend last year’s U.S. Open, where he met numerous professionals he’d always admired.

“I have never seen an outpouring of support like they did for him at USTA,” his father said. “It was unbelievable what they did for him. They even named a court after him in Orlando.”

Although he was reluctant to accept the offer at first because he told his father “it means I am dying,” the Make-A-Wish Foundation sent Filer to an NBA Finals game between the Golden State Warriors and Boston Celtics last year at Chase Center in San Francisco.

Filer was too sick to play at the 2022-23 USTA Winter Nationals, but he still went every day to watch his friends play.

“He would sweep their courts afterward and I had so many parents just text me saying, ‘this kid is unbelievable. I have never seen anyone like him,’” his father said. “He just wanted to be there and watch the kids he had played against. It was fun for him.”

There was a period of time when Filer began gaining strength and felt like he was returning to full health. But it was fleeting. One day at the gym, he looked over at his dad and told him he had a massive headache again.

“That was the beginning of the end,” his father said. “The tumor had gone to the middle of the brain towards the brain stem and that is what kills you. Within four weeks, he had gone from 148 pounds and ripped to 114 pounds.”

As their only child began to slip away, Filer’s parents were overcome with grief and the constant questioning about potential treatment options that may have been overlooked.

“We tried absolutely everything possible and you don’t want to second guess yourself,” Filer’s father said. “I know that I am going to, but I honestly thought until the very, very end that he would beat it because he has done so many things in his life and is such a good person and how can this happen to someone who is such a good person?”

Filer donated his brain and his spine to Gift from a Child, a national initiative that provides families an opportunity to help advance childhood brain cancer research through the donation process.

From the day her son first told her about being a “hello world kind of guy,” Mozdzierz-Filer thought it was the most beautiful expression she’d ever heard. She began to understand why her son never took naps, because he didn’t want to miss a moment of living.

A few days before he died, Mozdzierz-Filer told him how much he inspired her with his “hello world” way of living. She told him she would spend the rest of her life trying to fulfill that legacy.

Although he couldn’t speak by that point, Filer squeezed his mom’s hand, nodded slightly and faintly upturned his lips trying to smile.

“I knew he understood what I said and approved,” Mozdzierz-Filer said. “I am still grieving, but I wake up every day and try to honor my son’s ‘hello world’ way of living.”

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About Rhiannon Potkey

Rhiannon Potkey is a veteran sportswriter with more than two decades of experience in journalism. Potkey has covered many sports at many levels and has a passion for finding great stories. Potkey has covered the U.S. Open, junior sectional and national events, college conference championships and Davis Cup matches. Potkey is currently Content Strategist for Tennis Recruiting. You can reach Rhiannon by email at [email protected].