We lost our oldest son Owen on April 4, 2019 exactly 24 hours after his diagnosis of T-cell Leukemia at UVA. He was two weeks shy of turning 9 years old.
Owen was a loving older brother and super active. He was active in Cub Scouts as well as having just joined soccer. His favorite band is Journey which he would perform concerts for us daily. Owen was a 3rd grader at Ruckersville Elementary School in Greene County.
After playing in his first soccer game he started showing signs of what we assumed was a stomach bug and was sleepier than normal. After having blood in his urine we decided we were dealing with more than a stomach bug and went to our pediatrician’s office where bloodwork confirmed he had cancer. It wasn’t until later that night that we found out he had the rare form of leukemia called T-cell. Unfortunately Owen experienced a stroke from a brain bleed that was a complication from his cancer and passed away in the loving arms of his parents with his immediate family close by.
Owen was very passionate about living life to the fullest and making memories no matter how big or small. His family lives that way to honor him and have been working hard to make sure people know that childhood cancer deserves MORE, more time…money…and recognition
We are beyond honored to be walking in memory of our One Strong Boy with our team #doitforowen because everyday we get up and keep going because he would want it that way. And by keeping that in mind we hope one day we will be saying we DID it for Owen and we have cured childhood cancer!!
CureSearch is going to help us get childhood cancer the help they deserve! This also gives us a platform to help get T-cell the research it deserves! We need to see kids having long fulfilling lives and for us we believe CureSearch will make this happen.
— Gwen, Owen’s mother
