Meet Elijah

Very often, kids who attend the Aspen Winter Games are impacted for life. It’s one week, but for young people facing life-threatening illness, the experience can last a lifetime.

Elijah had been sick and isolated for so long, he had forgotten what it felt like to be outside. Diagnosed at age 14 with an extremely rare genetic condition that caused his immune system to malfunction, Elijah had a bone marrow transplant in June 2017 to save his life. His course since then has been rocky. He experienced many complications from the transplant, and the immunosuppressive medications he had to take to prevent rejecting the new bone marrow left him at risk for life-threatening infections. Elijah loves the outdoors. He loves hunting, fishing, and pretty much any activity that gets him outside. Having to be isolated for the last several years since his transplant has been extremely difficult and caused him to slide into a deep depression. His immune system was slowly getting stronger and his doctors gave the okay for him to go to the Aspen Winter Games Program.

Most people are in awe when they visit Aspen: The snow, the mountains, the air, the views…it’s all so breathtakingly beautiful. Elijah was a kid in a candy store! He spent every moment he could during the whole trip being OUTSIDE…skiing, playing in the snow, riding snowmobiles, swimming, and seizing any opportunity to be in nature. His week in Aspen made him feel alive again. Prior to the trip, his nurses had never seen him smile. Not once. Suffice it to say, he smiles all the time now. The need for human connection and nature connection is real, for everyone. Elijah had missed out on a lot of both of those over the last few years. He made new friends and spent quality time outside in nature. It was as healing to this young boy as his new bone marrow. Both gave him life again.