Spencer’s fight against cancer sadly comes to an end
The young man who the greater Brandon Valley community rallied around, passed away Monday morning.
Spencer Thorsland, whose 13th birthday on Jan. 3 was proclaimed “Spencer Thorsland Day” by Brandon Mayor Harry Buck, battled rhabdomyosarcoma over the last three years. In mid-November, Spencer began home hospice care.
His mother, Lori Huml, documented Spencer’s care and the family’s day-to-day life on her Facebook page, including his passing.
“Our sweet Spencer was welcomed into Jesus’s arms this morning. His ‘eventually’ is today. He has defeated cancer and is pain-free. Our hearts ache that this victory wasn’t here on earth, but how glorious to receive his healing in Jesus’s arms. The fresh white snow and a no-school day feel like gifts from above. ‘Eventually’, we’ll see him again. This is not a goodbye. This is a see you later.
“Forever in hearts – Spencer Roger Thorsland. We love you.”
Spencer’s story has been documented in both stories and photos in the Brandon Valley Journal over the past three years, and in several KELO TV news segments. In one of those stories, Spencer said “eventually” he would be pain-free.
Spencer’s celebration of life arrangements are pending and updates will be available on Heartland Funeral Home’s website, heartlandfunerals.com.
Although Spencer’s passing leaves a hole in the hearts of his family, friends, classmates and the community, Spencer lived life to the fullest in his final weeks. He was gifted a Make-A-Wish trip to DisneyWorld, where Spencer and his family received the “royal” treatment. Amy Dulaney was the driving force that afforded Spencer and the entire Brandon Valley seventh-grade class a private screening of Wonka. The family was welcomed home following an extensive stay at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., with a police and fire escort to their home while people lining the streets along the route. There have been countless gifts, celebrity visits and most importantly, prayer. A prayer vigil outside the Huml home was organized in late December.
His mother wrote in a Facebook post how the power of prayer gave Spencer a peaceful night’s rest.
Last week, Game Plan 4 Hope gifted Spencer the use of an electric wheelchair and his family, a van equipped with a lift. They used both on a recent trip to the Empire Mall just three days before his passing. Here are some snippet’s from his mother’s Facebook post that are sure to make you smile:
“Spencer had the energy to go to the Empire Mall on Friday. He quickly discovered steering an electric wheelchair with a joystick was a challenging task! We decided video game creators should consider mandating joysticks in order to play their games.
“His first stop was Hot Topic where he almost took out a display shelf in the middle of the store. The female clerk was so sweet. She said, ‘No worries, it happens all the time.’ David decided Spencer was only allowed to use first gear inside the stores.
“His main goal at the mall was to use his Box Lunch coupons (spend $30 and get $15 off). He had 10 of these. His plan was $300 worth of merchandise for $150. Thankfully he didn’t spot too many gems on this trip and only ended up using three coupons. And most of the items he bought were gifts for others.
“He also had a gift card for Game Stop. They had a huge clearance sale, and he used that card for gifts for his brothers, too.
Before leaving the mall, we let him put the chair in the highest gear on the fastest speed (supposed to be 6 miles per hour). When I’d yell “watch out” to Spencer, the shoppers around him thought I was yelling to them and they’d quickly move out of the way. I was apologizing a lot as David and I ran to catch up to him. At one point he told us to go a ways ahead of him so he could zip up to us. Mrs. Dulaney has accurately named him ‘Zippy’”.
On Sunday at 2:08 p.m., Lori wrote, “Spencer is fading. … We’re down to days, maybe hours. Really don’t know but it doesn’t feel like we’re bouncing back from this spot.”
Rest in peace, Spencer.
