Child Poet Mattie Stepanek Dies of MD

[themadchemist]

This is heartbreaking. This kid was astounding for his courage in the face of a horrible disease and for his incredible intelligence. The world will sorely miss him. It's a real tragedy that children would have to suffer so much or die so young.

Link

Note: This is a few days old, but I didn't see anything on the forums, so I thought I would post it. Has anyone else seen Mattie on Larry King Live? Over the past few years, he's been on several times and despite his debilitating illness, he was always filled with so much hope, compassion, and joy.

 

[Ajmbc]

In art class, an assignment was to do a collage based on one of his poems from heartsongs- It was amazing how thoughtful and well-written his poetry was- and reading that story made me heartbroken.

 

[gwuMACaddict]

terribly sad... i missed this one on the news the past week. i had seen him in interviews- what an interesting kid...

thanks for the post

 

[jsw]

I saw the report on CNN shortly after it happened.

It's really tragic and makes you realize how many kids must be dying of similar things - right now, as you read this post - that you don't know about because they never became well-known.

He was a true old soul and a remarkable artist. He will definitely be missed.

 

[wdlove]

Mattie was young man to be greatly admired. A very strong and courageous young man. He accomplished more in his young life than many do in a whole lifetime. His life is one that will long be remembered, a great legacy. May his now rest in peace. My thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends.

 

[michaelrjohnson]

RIP