Poly sophomore who lost battle with cancer this summer remembered as inspiration to others

After a vigorous three-year battle with bone cancer, mechanical engineering sophomore Chris Champion died on Aug. 5 before he could enter his third year at Cal Poly. While he was fighting cancer, Champion started a blog and began posting stories about his experience of fighting cancer said his girlfriend.

The blog reached thousands of people from across the nation and the world with posts about his cancer remissions, relapses and his faith in God.

Emily Barber, Champion’s high school sweetheart and girlfriend at the time of Champion’s passing, said that he would receive words of encouragement from people across the national and world.

“This blog was one more way to let his story inspire people, and to show them how much he was trusting in God for his safekeeping,” Barber said.

After being diagnosed with cancer in his left femur in 2006, Champion had a hip and femur replacement his senior year at Stockdale High School. The summer before he came to Cal Poly, he went through chemotherapy and finished his treatment right before WOW.

Biological sciences junior Mike Safina met Champion in the Yosemite dorms their freshman year. When he first met a bald-headed, post-chemotherapy Champion, Safina thought he was a skinhead.

“I was wrong. He was a man of faith that could not be rocked by any circumstance. When he was told by doctors he wouldn’t live much longer, he didn’t cash in his chips. He signed up for classes,” he said.

During fall 2007, Champion noticed some swollen lymph nodes in his leg. He went home to Bakersfield and had surgery to replace from the middle of his femur to the middle of his tibia. He returned to Cal Poly to attend for his second year and lived with Safina in Poly Canyon.

Winter 2009, Champion began getting headaches. He went to  the French Hospital where they found lesions in his head and problems with his lungs. Champion went back home, so Safina went to see him in the hospital in Bakersfield.

“I remember a couple months before he died, my friend and I went to visit him in the hospital. When we first saw him, I expected him to be depressed and dealing, but he greeted us with a giant smile and shouting. He was so excited we were there, not just because he missed us, but he really wanted an In-and-Out burger and was trying to convince us to bust him out of the hospital by tying his bed to my friend’s truck. That was who Chris was. A champion. A fighter. A man of truth faith. The best man and best friend I have known,” Safina said.

As the spring months came, Champion’s doctors and family thought he might not make it through the summer. Champion pulled through and was out of the hospital and in a wheelchair by the fourth of July. In August, his sickness suddenly came back and he unexpectedly died. His family held a memorial service for him on Aug. 15.

Before he was diagnosed with cancer, Champion led an active life. He played the trombone in the marching band and on family vacations he enjoyed wakeboarding.

“He lost his ability to run and jump before I met him, but that never slowed him down. He was a fighter until the day he died,” Safina said.

Champion remained as active as he could while he was sick. After his father, John Champion, died in January 2009, from an aggressive form of brain cancer, Champion put together a team to particpate in Relay for Life, an American Cancer Society charity that raises money for cancer research by having teams get sponsorships to walk or run for a given amount of time. Though Champion was still fighting cancer and dealing with the physical pains of his sickness, he still participated and dedicated his team to his father. The fund raised $1,275.

“He and his dad shared a mischievous streak,” Barber recalled. “One day, his mom was chiding them both about how fast they went through orange juice, and she bought a huge container and told them to make it last. Soon after, when she wasn’t looking, they poured out all the orange juice into another container and left the empty jug in the refrigerator. His mom discovered it and flipped out. Chris and his dad high-fived and basked in their achievement for days,” Barber said.

On one of his most popular blog post titled “What Happens When I Don’t Pay Attention in Church,” Champion commented, “The effect I’ve already had on people’s lives is enough to make me honestly say that I would do it again, if given the choice.”