A week after his town dressed up for an early Halloween and held a Christmas celebration in his honour, a four-year-old Utah boy has died of cancer.
The town of West Jordan made headlines last week when more than 100,000 residents agreed to celebrate an early Halloween, Christmas and birthday for Ethan Van Leuven, who was given mere days to live after he stopped responding to treatment.
“We are so grateful for the support we have received, and the blessing all of you have been to our family,” said Jennifer Van Leuven, Ethan’s mother, on the family’s Facebook page. “We are picturing Ethan happy and at peace.”
Lovingly known as “Super Hero Ethan” by supporters, Ethan was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia at 22 months.
Even though Ethan after fighting the disease for more than half of his life, he had recently stopped responding to treatment and was given just days to live.
So his community came together to celebrate the holidays one more time: Halloween took place on Tuesday, Oct. 21, and Christmas two days later.
But on Tuesday morning, Ethan passed away.
“Surrounded by his loving and adoring family, Super Hero Ethan earned his wings,” a statement said on the family’s GoFundMe page, which has raised more than $28,000 for Ethan’s treatment. “He fought as hard and as long as any Super Hero could.”
The family is still accepting donations to help pay funeral costs and medical expenses.
