Tyler Trent’s Funeral Livestream

All I can say is thank you.

How else can you properly eulogize this young man? It is hard to believe we only had his public story for a little over 15 months from October 2017 until last Tuesday. In that time, however, Tyler did so much. He served. He gave his all. He fought. If anyone can beat cancer, he certainly did. As Jim Valvano once said, “Cancer can take away all of my physical abilities. It cannot touch my mind, it cannot touch my heart, and it cannot touch my soul. And those three things are going to carry on forever.”

It never even came close to touching those things for Tyler.

So tonight, we say thank you. I am including a trio of links to close this article. First is a link to the live stream of his funeral at College Park Church in Indianapolis. It begins at 5:50pm ET. It is also our way of saying goodbye to him and thanking him for all he did. Tyler would be the last person to want thanks, and that is why I admire his humility so much. He relied on his deep faith in Christ to carry him through the harrowing battle he faced. Not only did it carry him through, he was able to fulfill and accomplish so much in his adversity. When he was diagnosed with cancer the second time he prayed that his illness would be used to make an impact. I cannot tell you how much I admire that, and he certainly made an impact.

While we did so much for him by lifting him up, he did so much more for so many. His reach went beyond the Purdue community to the entire world, and so many have honored him in the last week like Maize N’ Brew:

This column is being drawn out because it’s likely to be the last time I get to use my platform here to share Tyler’s story. I’ve had family go through hospice care, and we all know what it means. That doesn’t make the news from earlier in the week any easier to stomach. Thank you Tyler for inspiring us, for giving us hope, and for being who you are.

The second link is to his book and third to his Research Endowment with the Purdue Cancer Foundation. This is where Tyler lives on. He wanted to make sure that no one else would have to go through what he went through on this earth. In addition to his example Tyler has helped establish and endowment that will hopefully one day wipe out this terrible disease.

“My drive revolves around the legacy I leave. The chances of my living to see cancer eradicated, or our finding a cure, are pretty low, but hopefully one hundred years down the line, maybe my legacy will have an impact towards that goal.”

So thank you, Tyler. May God grant you your rest in His final victory.