8-Year-Old Who Found True Love Dies of Cancer
David Spisak Jr. died on Feb. 11.
-- David Spisak Jr., the 8-year-old with cancer who found the love of his life, has died.
"There's never been a morning with such sadness as today and no words will do it justice but I'll try," David's mother Amber Spisak wrote on Facebook yesterday. "Our little man's last moments were laying with his mommy and daddy in the middle of the night, with a house full of family, friends and loved ones after days of being surrounded by love. This day was supposed to come about 9-10 months ago but David just wasn't done living yet so he made his own timeline and defied the rules."
She continued: "I'm not ready to say things happen for a reason or a message of rainbows and sunshine just yet, but our baby boy was a fighter, a beautiful soul, a force to be reckoned with and of all the things, he is most definitely a hero. Rest easy sweet boy, you fought an unfair fight with the strength of a thousand soldiers that I could've never done...but you did it with grace; no more struggling. Just rest."
Spisak told ABC News in November that David was first diagnosed with leukemia when he was 2 and beat cancer three times before his diagnosis in March. He underwent extensive chemotherapy treatment.
With a fourth cancer diagnosis, David would have to spend more time in the hospital, unable to play with other children.
"We just decided it was time to give him a childhood,” Spisak said. “If the outcome was going to be the same, if he was going to continue to get cancer, we decided that if he wasn’t going to win, that we would give him everything right now.”
In March, doctors told the Spisaks David would live four to six weeks without treatment.
But months passed and David looked well. He was well enough to start second grade in September.
It was there in school where David met Ayla, a girl in his class, who his mother said he had a crush on.
After David’s disease pulled him from school, not only did his classmates write letters about how much Ayla, 7, missed him, but Ayla herself sent multiple letters with her phone number "all over," according to Spisak.
“He said, ‘Actually, she's kind of like the real Snow White because she's so kind, especially to me because she loves me,” Spisak said.
David and Ayla’s bond proved even more special when he asked her out on a date, planned by both their mothers, to a bowling alley with a teddy bear and flowers.
By the end of the date, David had lived more than many 8-year-olds: he had his first date and his first kiss (on the cheek). At one point, he even stood up from his chair, walked and bowled standing up, his mother said.
"He was just so determined for her, he really pushed himself for her," Spisak said. "Once we realized that this wasn’t the typical elementary school crush, once we saw this heartfelt connection that they have, we were so happy that she came into his life and that he came to her life for some reason."
“We never thought he was going to ever experience this because his time is so limited, but we saw it and it's real,” she added.
Sadly, David died in the early hours of Thursday morning at home, according to Christy McCloud, founder and CEO of the nonprofit organization Adipsy, which has provided meals for the Spisaks during this difficult time.
"We're deeply saddened and doing everything we can in assisting to make this as easy as possible," McCloud told ABC News today. "[David's mom] feels pretty numb right now, so a lot of her friends are rallying around her to help get her through things."
McCloud said the family pulled David from the hospital Sunday so he could die comfortably in his own home.
Adipsy will also be assisting the Spisaks with funeral arrangements for their son.
"One of the things [David] said was that he wanted to be a hero, so his mom wants to give him a hero funeral," McCloud said.
ABC News' Esther Castillejo contributed to this report.