Lane Goodwin, the 13-year old boy who garnered attention and support worldwide during his battle with a painful and rare form of cancer, passed away on Wednesday night.
The Louisville resident had been battling Alveolar Rhabdomyosarcoma since 2010, yet always kept a positive attitude which stunned those who knew him. He attracted hundreds of thousands of followers on Facebook, who took to the social media outlet this week to grieve and share memories of the boy some of them never got to meet in person. His “Thumbs Up For Lane” campaign, which began as a fundraiser for cancer research, received attention from all over the world and saw Lane’s favorite sports team, the Louisville Cardinals, send him photos of themselves giving a big thumbs up.
“We have been amazed and touched by the worldwide thumbs-up movement in honor of Lane,” the family said in a statement. “Lane believed that the awareness this movement brought for childhood cancers would lead to a cure. Lane’s legacy will live on as we move forward with the commitment we made to him to find a cure.”
“So beautiful, I cry as if u all r my family, my heart goes out to u all! May God comfort u all!! There’s no doubt this poem is so true that lane is really there wiping those tears!” wrote one supporter after a poem was posted on the “Prayers For Lane Goodwin” page.
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Goodwin’s bright attitude earned the respect and love of celebrities, including University of Kentucky basketball coach John Calipari, who tweeted about the brave boy earlier this week.
Just heard that Lane Goodwin passed away. My prayers are with his family and loved ones. Let’s all give one more thumbs up for Lane! #RIP
The family has decided to allow Lane’s supporters to be a part of his funeral services and posted a notice on their Facebook page about it:
“Services for Lane-
Visitation Sunday 2-8pm & Prayer service 6pm
Visitation Monday 11:30am-3:30pm with the Funeral at 3:30pm.
All services will be held at Calhoun Baptist Church.
All media & press are being asked to stay outside of the church.
A lot of you have followed us on this Journey for the past 2 1/2 years & others have joined this past month. In order for everyone to be apart of the service there will be a live stream over the Internet of the service. The link will be posted here on Lane’s page. We will also be posting ways you can honor Lane later this evening.”