Brian Hernandez Funeral Cost Fund

Our dear son, brother, loved one, and friend Brian Hernandez sadly passed away on May 7, 2013 at Children's Hospital Los Angeles after courageously battling aplastic anemia for five years, and more recently, leukemia. He was only 21 years old.

Aplastic anemia is a terrible, insidious disease usually affecting teenagers and people in their 20s. The disease involves damaged bone marrow and blood stem cells and results in low blood cell counts. A significant number of patients suffering from severe aplastic anemia do go on to develop leukemia, as Brian unfortunately did.

What kind of person was Brian? Brian was a sweet, kind, caring, loyal, beautiful person who was like frozen in time as a teenager. He was very good to all of us—his mother (Paz), sisters (Irma, Sandra, and Isabel), his girlfriend (Violeta), all of his friends and family members, and the exceptional and caring staff at Children's Hospital Los Angeles. He was a patient and excellent listener when talking to his family and friends. Brian also loved and excelled at skateboarding and dreamed of pursuing it professionally until his aplastic anemia debilitated him. He loved sports, but especially basketball and his favorite team, the Los Angeles Lakers.

Brian has been a true inspiration to everyone who has known and loved him. He was a very strong kid who confronted his disease with hope, optimism, and valor. He would frequently go to Children's Hospital Los Angeles for treatment and then return home where he would try to lead as normal a life as possible under the circumstances. A very positive person, he did not like to complain about his disease or the profound effects it had on his life, goals, and dreams. He complained only recently when the chemotherapy for his leukemia caused him excruciating and unbearable pain in his body.

Because of Brian's strength, courage, and hope, we all believed that Brian would overcome his disease. We are now all shocked, devastated, and profoundly grief-stricken over Brian's premature passing. We are wondering how such a good, sweet soul could be ripped from our hearts and lives so abruptly and unfairly. But with very heavy and torn hearts, we are also grateful and appreciative that we have had Brian in our lives, even if his journey in life was interrupted.

While trying to cope with his own grief over the sudden death of his close friend who was just 22 years old and had great promise, the English poet laureate Alfred Tennyson later said in dedication to and memory of his dear friend:

I hold it true, whate’er befall;
I feel it, when I sorrow most;
’Tis better to have loved and lost
Than never to have loved at all.

We love you Brian from the bottom of hearts and souls and forever. You will always be a part of us because, as it has been said, “Those who touch our lives live forever in our hearts.”

Thank you very much for your thoughts, prayers, and condolences during this very dark and sad time in our lives. We are eternally grateful to you for your donations (any amount of money) toward Brian's burial expenses that are simply beyond the ability of our family to pay. We sincerely appreciate your kindness and generosity so that we can provide our dear Brian with the proper burial that he so deserves. And we truly appreciate the wonderful and kind physicians, nurses, and other Children's Hospital Los Angeles healthcare professionals who were like angels to our own angel, Brian, in his time of need.

Thank you, and G-d bless you.