The Sunflower Squad is a group of Aylat's friends and family who have supported her through her sarcoma diagnosis, treatment, and survivorship. 

Aylat was diagnosed with Cardiac Angiosarcoma in September 2019, just one month after landing in the ER and having brain surgery to remove a mass on her right frontal lobe. After pathology and extensive testing, it was determined to be a rare aggressive sarcoma and the presumed primary tumor was on her mitral valve. Aylat went through 9 rounds of chemotherapy and as she was not a candidate for open heart surgery, she had 2 months of proton radiation directly to her mitral valve on her heart, something that is rarely done. On her last visit with her radiation oncologist at 4 years post-diagnosis, her doctor said that she had just treated her 100th cardiac sarcoma patient with this type of radiation.

Aylat is now 5 and a half years with No Evidence of Disease, though still struggles with long term side effects from her cancer and cancer treatments. 

The Sunflower Squad is raising money for SFA so that more young adults can have another chance at life after a devastating sarcoma diagnosis and so that there can be more funding for research on novel methods of treating these rare and aggressive cancers, such as the proton radiation that Aylat received.