A Father's Love, A Son's Legacy: Honoring Christopher’s Memory
It’s another Friday night game for the local school football team. The bleachers are filled with a sea of parents, aunts, uncles, nephews and nieces. The 120-yard field is filled with cheerleaders flashing their brightest smiles, the marching band blaring the touchdown song and in the corner of your eye — Kevin.
Kevin is once again volunteering to take photos of the local sports team, for the 8th week in a row. Tonight, it's football, but other weeks it's soccer, hockey, and wrestling at different schools in the district. As Kevin creates memories for families to cherish, the community is reminded of Christopher’s spirit.
Kevin’s son, Christopher, was born without a bile duct, a rare condition that wasn’t diagnosed until he began showing signs of jaundice as an infant. He underwent a series of major medical interventions, including three liver transplants, and later, a multi-organ transplant that included a new liver, pancreas, stomach, colon and intestines.
Despite countless complications and hospital stays, Christopher showed incredible strength and resilience throughout his life.
His medical journey was long and often uncertain. After his multi-organ transplant in 2014, he returned home and even went back to school. But in 2015, complications took their toll and Christopher passed away on August 6th at the age of 12. His life touched countless people — doctors, nurses and his community — all of whom rallied around him and his family.
Since then, Kevin has sought ways to honor Christopher’s memory. Thinking back to his time in the hospital with Christopher, he remembered something that brought Christopher much comfort and joy – playing video games on the Starlight Nintendo Switch Gaming Station.
The Two Things Christopher Loved
Because of Christopher’s transplants, he often wasn’t allowed to go to the hospital’s playroom with the pool table and games. So, when the Starlight Gaming Station was rolled into his room, he raced cars in Mario Kart with Kevin. Christopher got to do two things he loved – gaming and spending time with his dad.
“I have some of Christopher’s letters that he did in school,” Kevin recalled. “When they asked, ‘what did you do on the weekend?’, he would write, ‘play video games with my dad or got a new game.’ He just loved it. It was good for him to be able to do what he loved at the hospital.”
Kevin's Mission: Delivering Happiness
Kevin has made it his mission to deliver the same comfort and happiness, now fundraising to provide Starlight Gaming to other kids in the hospital. “I know what it did for him. So that's what I want to do for other kids,” Kevin shared.
Partnering with Starlight Children’s Foundation allows Kevin to make a wide-reaching impact on kids.
“If I tried to do something myself, it's too much to tackle as a single person,” Kevin said. “But I can be part of a team to make a big impact because of Starlight."
Kevin fundraises by volunteering to take photos at school sports games in his community with an option to donate. “I don’t ask them. There’s a button to donate and they just do the right thing,” Kevin said. “They just pay back my kindness forward. In Christopher's memory and to help the kids in the hospital.”
Kevin has nearly raised $30,000 towards his $100,000 goal to fund Starlight Gaming requests across 34 hospitals in New York and New Jersey, where he lives.
“One thing that holds true for me is...the love you make is the love you take with you. Christopher’s love, strength and spirit continues.”
- Kevin
