Gaer McKinley Hanson

On January 12, 2024 after a fun and hard 19 years, Gaer passed away. 19 years ago this month was his first visit to the emergency department and Pediatric ICU. Since then it was almost a yearly event and often multiple times during the year. Through it all he was still the happiest kid. Every day was the best.

He was thankful to nurses who gave him IVs. He was often excited to go to the hospital, since they had pizza, the Artisan Cheese Plate, and Wednesday BINGO with prizes. We have always been thankful for his joy.

This last year was the worst. His kidneys failed, and he was on hemodialysis (HD) every day since March 2023. After four months in the hospital, we continued with home hemodialysis. Valerie, Reilly and I worked in three shifts to take care of Gaer. We had hoped that HD would make him feel better, but outside of a few times here and there, it did not.

Starting Christmas Eve we were back in the hospital for continuous HD. While it helped initially, more things kept popping up, including a couple bad events on New Years Eve. We finally decided his body was done fighting and removed supports on January 12. He passed peacefully after three days of visits from family, friends, teachers, nurses, and doctors.

We are now in the process of memorial planning and have decided on cremation, but we want a nice location to visit and remember. Funds will primarily go to this. He's worth it.

I did not realize how hard this would be to write, so I think I'll stop here.

Thank you in advance your support to us, and especially, to Gaer.

Carlos Hanson