Community rallies to support Blaze Crowder
Multiple benefits organized for 12-year-old boy battling brain cancer
Fred McCormick
The Valley Echo
September 6, 2021
Community members in Black Mountain are rallying around the family of Blaze Crowder, a local 12-year-old boy who was diagnosed with Stage 4 Glioblastoma Multiforme in February. Multiple benefits have been organized to support the family of Crowder, who was moved to hospice care last week. He’s pictured here in a photo taken earlier this year with his mother, Jessica West. Photo courtesy of Jessica West
The journey for 12-year-old Blaze Crowder has been an arduous one since he was diagnosed with Stage 4 Glioblastoma Multiforme, an aggressive and terminal form of brain cancer, in February.
As he continues his brave struggle in the care of hospice, members of the local community are offering opportunities to support his family.
Crowder began experiencing headaches in January, before a scan revealed a mass on his brain. He underwent surgery in early February to alleviate the pressure caused by the tumor, which was removed later in the month due to rapid growth.
The Black Mountain sixth-grader, who has endured treatment for the incurable cancer for seven months, moved into hospice care with his parents, Jessica and Ryan West, Sept. 9.
Classmates and friends of Crowder are organizing the Friends for Blaze fundraiser, from 10 a.m. - 2 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 18, in the parking lot of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the Swannanoa Valley at the intersection of Montreat Road and 4th Street. The drive-through event, coordinated by Kiersten Hall and Jamie Hamilton Partlow, will collect cards and money for Crowder and his family. Additional information about the fundraiser can be found at the Friends for BLAZE Facebook event page.
A separate campaign is coordinating meals for Crowder, his five siblings and parents. The Family of Blaze Crowder Meal Train Plus page, organized by Julie Shippey, allows members of the community to schedule dates for dinner delivery.
Donations can be made directly to the family at the Blaze’s Journey Facebook page, operated by Crowder’s mother. West provides regular updates on her son through the Blaze Against Brain Cancer Facebook page.