Christian was an extraordinary boy-though he wore it quietly.  He always had a deep compassion for others.

Christian loved his brother Garrett and his sister Kendall deeply.  Things that made him happy were being with family, his faith in God, pizza, the color Green, reading  Captain Underpants, fart jokes, his puppies, friends, math, video games, soccer, Sandy’s cookies, and drawing cartoons.

He was diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia and courageously endured his 20-month battle which included 16 months inpatient, chemo, radiation, isolation, surgeries, scans, relapses, and two bone marrow transplants.  Much of his treatment was done at Seattle Children’s where he and Sandy were separated from Gary, Garrett, and Kendall in California.  Gary maintained things at home with the help of Sandy’s mom, Ginni.

Both of Christian’s younger siblings, Garrett and Kendall, were bone marrow donor matches for Christian.  While they both wanted to be chosen to help him, the transplant team chose Garrett who had just turned 11.

Inside the bone marrow transplant ward, Sandy built a life. Up at 5 a.m. for a run, then over to the Ronald McDonald House to bake chocolate chip cookies for the nurses and doctors, and back to the hospital by 6:30. The medical team became family. “They weren’t just treating a patient — they were treating Christian and supporting both of us,” Sandy says.  The nurses knew of their faith and would pray with her.

Out of that loss, Sandy and Gary built something. Gold Rush Cure Foundation was created to support families navigating childhood cancer — not just the child fighting the disease, but the siblings left behind, the marriages under strain, and the accompanying PTSD.  “Most people don’t know what happens during this journey,” Sandy says. “There are so many challenges. But there are also silver linings — beautiful relationships that form.

Christian’s memory and legacy now touches the lives of thousands of childhood cancer patients and their siblings nationwide. Gold Rush Cure serves as a lasting tribute to Christian, honoring him daily and preserving the memory of his enduring love.