John Thomas
Type of leukemia: Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia Information about John: John was born March 19, 1979 in Pittsfield, MA and lost his battle with leukemia on March 24, 1999 at Duke University Medical Center, one week after receiving a cord blood transplant and eight months after being diagnosed with ALL. With the exception of his last eight months with us, he led an ordinary and, at times, extraordinary life. Over the years as his dad followed a corporate career, he lived in Alabama, Connecticut, western Illinois, Singapore, Hong Kong, and finally moved to Barrington in 1995 where he attended Barrington High School for his junior and senior years. After graduating in June 1997, he attended Embry Riddle Aeronautical University, chasing a life-time interest in aviation and desire to become a commercial pilot. He was an average student with extracurricular interests ranging from tennis to white water rafting, downhill skiing, scuba diving, travel and aviation. As a child, he attended adventure camp near his grandparents’ home in Colorado where he hiked 14,000 foot peaks, fished and rafted on the Colorado and Green Rivers in Colorado and Utah. He earned his open water scuba certification in Colorado and Utah, his advanced open water certification in the Philippines, and dived on the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. While living in Asia, he also traveled with the family to Indonesia, Thailand and China where he walked the Great Wall near Beijing. He skied often in western Colorado on Christmas visits to his grandparents in Glenwood Springs, finally mastering the black diamond trails at Aspen Highlands on his last visit. For his high school graduation present, he made a tandem sky dive south of Chicago. In May 1998 he received his pilot’s license after completing his freshman year of college at Embry Riddle in Daytona Beach. Early on the morning of July 17, 1998 John woke up with pains in his legs, went to the emergency room at Good Shepherd Hospital and later that same morning was diagnosed with leukemia. With help from wonderful doctors at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Good Shepherd and the Pediatric Bone Marrow Transplant Unit at Duke, he fought a tough battle. In the end the disease won. He lives on today in the hearts of his sister Elizabeth, parents Bob and Trish, and those whose lives he touched during his short time on earth.
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