Christian Copeman was born to Patches and Aaron Copeman in 1996.  The family lived in upstate New York and would eventually make two other moves.  One to south Florida and then another back to the Northeast, settling in Sussex County, New Jersey.  Christian was 10 years old when the family moved to NJ.  He attended Fredon Elementary School and then transitioned through to Kittatinny High School.  Christian was an athlete, playing baseball, football and basketball throughout his school years.  He played in recreational, travel and school programs.

During his sophomore year, while Christian was playing basketball at the High School, he noticed he was starting to get some pain in his hip.  Everyone assumed it was just a minor injury from all of the time Christian spent on the gym floor, chasing and sliding after loose basketballs, but we would soon learn, it was not a minor injury.

In March of 2012, after seeing a few doctors locally and because Christian was losing weight so quickly, a local Urologist referred the family to a doctor in NYC at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital.  After they ran a bunch of tests, they were able to determine that Christian had stage four cancer.  It was called rhabdomyosarcoma, a soft tissue cancer that was invading Christian’s body.  He had a tumor in his prostate, various growths within his lungs, lesions on his bones and it was spreading within his bone marrow.  This was clearly not the news that anyone expected to hear.

This led to a battle…  A battle that involved the family’s faith, their belief in Jesus Christ, and the treatment plan that the doctors prescribed.  Family, friends, neighbors, people all across the nation and the world, were praying for Christian.  What a blessing that was!

At the first check-up, after only two rounds of chemotherapy, the doctors were overjoyed to see that the tumor had shrunk to half of its original size, the lesions had dried up on the bones, there were only a few issues left in his lungs and it was already dead in the bone marrow.  What a miracle!  Especially since the treatment plan called for fifty-four rounds of treatment and the cancer was already defeated this early in the process.  At the six-month checkup, there were no signs of cancer at all.  The whole family and community rejoiced!  Christian would go on to continue his treatment until May of 2013.  Everyone continued to give thanks to the Lord, and to Jesus Christ for already defeating cancer on the Cross.

That summer, the family was able to enjoy an amazing cruise together.  It was a cruise that was provided through Make-A-Wish and was sponsored and funded by the local Rotary.  Christian was granted the Make-A-Wish while he was still in treatment, but he felt weird taking the trip since he was now cancer free and the treatment had ended.  It turned out to be a blessing for the family that summer, since Christian and the family would soon get some disturbing news.

In September, after going into the cancer clinic for his routine scans, the doctors noticed that the cancer was back and appeared to be spreading to several places throughout Christian’s body.  This wasn’t the news that anyone was expecting.  Christian was finally back in school for his senior year.  He, his family, the community and the students of Kittatinny, were all so happy he was back in school.  He had missed part of his sophomore year and all of his junior year, while he was in treatment.  All of that time he was away from school, he was being tutored at home.  It was a tough blow to know Christian was back in this fight against cancer again.  He was actually going to play football again his senior year, but that didn’t end up happening.

Once again, the family would make a decision to start treatment in NYC, all while keeping their faith in Jesus Christ and continuing to pray for a complete healing.  It was a rough winter and Christian’s condition worsened, but he never lost his faith, he never let it break him.  He was such a tough competitor and he fought cancer with the same “I’m not going to lose” spirit, that he had while playing sports.  It was his will to live and his faith in Jesus that kept him going, even when his body was falling apart from the cancer.

Early in the morning on February 2^nd, 2014, Christian let his family know that he was ready to go be with the Lord.  For the next three days, friends and family came to see Christian to spend some time with him.  On February 5^th, he took his last breath.  Christian wasn’t afraid to die and he welcomed going home to be with his Lord and Savior.  He was so strong, even on his way out.