KELSEY
April 27, 1989 ~ July 28, 1996

Kelsey Nicole Thorsen is the inspiration behind Gold Ribbons for Childhood Cancer.

Kelsey was diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) on July 2, 1996. She died a short 26 days later from septic shock (a blood infection, where her own blood bacteria created what is known as an "opportunistic infection"), due to a low immune system caused by chemotherapy. She had just completed first grade; she was 7 years old.

Kelsey is…

• My first child
• Obedient, calm, determined, giving
• A child of God, with a great love for Him and His Son, and the Holy Spirit shined brightly in her.
• Great lover of animals of all sorts, including roly polys!
• Compassionate
• A follower of safety rules! Always wore her seatbelt and bike helmet, and had thumbs down for those who didn't. She was also a faithful sunscreen wearer, to help prevent skin cancer.
• Gifted - she was in a special class for accelerated children and had just finished first grade at Peruvian Park Elementary in Sandy, Utah.
• A great reader! Her last week of life was filled with reading, one book after another, stuff like Box Car Children and Babysitter's Club Little Sisters books, and the Bobsey Twins.
• She had tired of TV watching while she was sick... we watched Jumanji and the Pippi Longstocking movies her last week.
• A smiler -- she was truly sunshine stuck in a human body!
• A fabulous big sister -- she was so patient with our little rowdy Kiersten, letting her have her way (most of the time)!
• Generous -- bought her friends little things at school from the vending machine, like cool pencils.
• A special daughter to her mother -- she loved me and wanted to always be with me. She wrote lots of "I love you" notes!
• Brave
• Her maternal grandparents' first grandchild, and she loved them dearly and spend lots of time with them on their "farm." Her grandpa Jack joined her in Heaven just 7 months later.
• Creative -- loved to sit with Kiersten at our kitchen island and cut and draw and paste 'til the sun went down!
• My angel forever