Sam Callahan was a fighter and those who knew the 17-year-old say they'll remember him as an inspiration.
Sam died peacefully in the bedroom of his Campbell home on Jan. 14 after a 3 1/2-year battle with Ewing's sarcoma. He is survived by his mother Suzy Callahan van Bronkhorst, father Kenn Callahan, brother Joseph Callahan, stepfather Derek van Bronkhorst and grandfather Don Callahan, a lifelong resident of Los Gatos.
"He fought so hard," his stepfather said. "He really put up a battle. He never complained, never asked, 'Why me?' He took it head-on.
"He had his goals and he achieved those goals. But words can't express the effect he had on other people in the way he lived his life while he was here."
Sam's family will host a celebration of his life at Bellarmine College Preparatory, 960 W. Hedding St. in San Jose, on Jan. 24 beginning at 11:15 a.m. Sam was a junior at Bellarmine Prep.
Sam's life--along with the lives of his family members--changed forever in September 2009 when he was rushed to the hospital with a 102-degree fever and a pain in his side. After a series of tests doctors learned that it was Ewing's sarcoma, a rare type of cancer that frequently strikes teenage boys.
Doctors said that Sam's chances of living past a year were slim, van Bronkhorst said. But that didn't seem to shake Sam's confidence that he would not just live that long, van Bronkhorst said, but beat the deadly disease.
He was treated at Stanford University for about nine months, and then began flying to the University of Texas' MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston for weekly treatments and then eventually to Santa Monica, his stepfather said.
Whether it was chemotherapy or clinical trials, he never talked too much to his friends about his illness. In fact, van Bronkhorst said, the teenager went out of his way to "just be Sam."
Although he lived a relatively short life, he made an impact on others, including Major League Baseball player Darnell McDonald.
Sam, an outstanding baseball player in his own right before he was stricken with the disease, met McDonald while the teenager and his family visited AT&T Park in San Francisco for a Giants-Red Sox game in 2010. As McDonald was saying goodbye, a family friend handed him a blue "Sam's Team" wrist band and said if he wore it during the game he would hit a home run.
McDonald, not known as a home run hitter, did wear the band and hit a ball into the stands.
"I thought of it as I was rounding second base," McDonald told the Boston Globe at the time. "I remember that they said I was going to hit a homer. And then I did. It made me feel blessed."
Sam and McDonald were able to meet a couple of more times and had "an amazing relationship," van Bronkhorst said.
It wasn't just McDonald who was inspired by Sam, van Bronkhorst added. He seemed to have a similar effect on many he came to know. Part of it may have been that he seemed mature beyond his years, both before and after his diagnosis.
Sam was asked, and eventually accepted the invitation, to speak at his eighth-grade graduation from St. Lucy Parish School. What he told his young peers could have been said to college graduates.
"No matter what the odds are against you, the human will is the strongest force in the world," Sam said. "In each of us we possess a drive that can move mountains and achieve anything we focus on."
Sam focused on living. And that's just what he did.
Sam died peacefully in the bedroom of his Campbell home on Jan. 14 after a 3 1/2-year battle with Ewing's sarcoma. He is survived by his mother Suzy Callahan van Bronkhorst, father Kenn Callahan, brother Joseph Callahan, stepfather Derek van Bronkhorst and grandfather Don Callahan, a lifelong resident of Los Gatos.
"He fought so hard," his stepfather said. "He really put up a battle. He never complained, never asked, 'Why me?' He took it head-on.
"He had his goals and he achieved those goals. But words can't express the effect he had on other people in the way he lived his life while he was here."
Sam's family will host a celebration of his life at Bellarmine College Preparatory, 960 W. Hedding St. in San Jose, on Jan. 24 beginning at 11:15 a.m. Sam was a junior at Bellarmine Prep.
Sam's life--along with the lives of his family members--changed forever in September 2009 when he was rushed to the hospital with a 102-degree fever and a pain in his side. After a series of tests doctors learned that it was Ewing's sarcoma, a rare type of cancer that frequently strikes teenage boys.
Doctors said that Sam's chances of living past a year were slim, van Bronkhorst said. But that didn't seem to shake Sam's confidence that he would not just live that long, van Bronkhorst said, but beat the deadly disease.
He was treated at Stanford University for about nine months, and then began flying to the University of Texas' MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston for weekly treatments and then eventually to Santa Monica, his stepfather said.
Whether it was chemotherapy or clinical trials, he never talked too much to his friends about his illness. In fact, van Bronkhorst said, the teenager went out of his way to "just be Sam."
Although he lived a relatively short life, he made an impact on others, including Major League Baseball player Darnell McDonald.
Sam, an outstanding baseball player in his own right before he was stricken with the disease, met McDonald while the teenager and his family visited AT&T Park in San Francisco for a Giants-Red Sox game in 2010. As McDonald was saying goodbye, a family friend handed him a blue "Sam's Team" wrist band and said if he wore it during the game he would hit a home run.
McDonald, not known as a home run hitter, did wear the band and hit a ball into the stands.
"I thought of it as I was rounding second base," McDonald told the Boston Globe at the time. "I remember that they said I was going to hit a homer. And then I did. It made me feel blessed."
Sam and McDonald were able to meet a couple of more times and had "an amazing relationship," van Bronkhorst said.
It wasn't just McDonald who was inspired by Sam, van Bronkhorst added. He seemed to have a similar effect on many he came to know. Part of it may have been that he seemed mature beyond his years, both before and after his diagnosis.
Sam was asked, and eventually accepted the invitation, to speak at his eighth-grade graduation from St. Lucy Parish School. What he told his young peers could have been said to college graduates.
"No matter what the odds are against you, the human will is the strongest force in the world," Sam said. "In each of us we possess a drive that can move mountains and achieve anything we focus on."
Sam focused on living. And that's just what he did.
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