Timothy Neal Adams touched more people in his 11 years than most do in a lifetime.
The fourth-grader's battle with pelvic, abdominal and lung cancer ended at 11:30 p.m. Monday at his house across the street from Prairie Park School, a public elementary school that provided him a huge second family.
Eleven-year-old Timmy Adams is dead after a battle with cancer. The Prairie Park School student is shown here with his sister Molly at Christmas.
"He was a little boy who loved life," Mary Adams, his mother, said Tuesday. "We'd be in all these different hospitals in all these different states, and we'd sit on a hospital bed singing and laughing. He would find all sorts of things that would make him happy weather, lightning, snowflakes.
"He loved going to school. You could always tell where Timmy was, because there would be a circle of children around him."
Students at Prairie Park were told of Timmy's death Tuesday morning. A crisis-response team was at the school for students, teachers and staff, said team leader Donna Patton-Bryant. Counselors will be at the school again today.
Doug Eicher, the Lawrence district's executive director of special services, said the Prairie Park community opened its arms to Timmy. The boy, who also had Down syndrome, responded by remaining resilient during his treatment for cancer.
"He really made an impact on a school in a short couple years," Eicher said.
In 1999, students at Prairie Park launched the "Pennies for Timmy" program as Timmy's medical bills mounted while he was at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn.
Children sifted through pockets, containers and drawers for coins. Strangers left buckets of pennies outside the school at night. Eventually, more than 75,000 pennies were donated to the cause. The original goal was $20 so students could buy Timmy a videotape movie.
"We told the family to buy him what he needs," said Ed Barnhart, a Prairie Park counselor.
In December, a merry band of elves helped the Prairie Park neighborhood deliver a gift of light to Timmy and his family, including father Neal and sister Molly. A charitable organization, Elves of Christmas Present, orchestrated an elaborate Christmas Eve lighting show on the school's lawn with Timmy as guest of honor.
"It was interesting to watch the community, the parents and the students ... create a sense of belonging for Timmy and his family," Eicher said.
That relationship with the school changed Timmy's life. "He was allowed to come out of his shell and be an adorable little boy," Mary Adams said.
Sensing that Timmy's condition had worsened, students at Prairie Park worked together to make a quilt for him. It was presented to him a couple weeks ago.
"The last few days," Mary Adams said, "we knew he had a short time left. We had some close friends over. We'd sing, listen to ... music, dance and play."
No comments
Commenting is turned off for this story.