Our Story

Oliver, 12, died on Thursday June 18, 2015 within 36 hours of a leukemia diagnosis, after a week of headaches. Oliver was a goalkeeper for Miami’s Key Biscayne U12 Elite team. They were the 2015 Kelme Cup elite level champions and ranked as high as 17th in Florida. As a goalkeeper, Oliver sacrificed himself to save his team on a regular basis; it cost him broken fingers and wrists, and he routinely took the ball full force in the face or stomach.

But not only did he display great courage and tireless effort. Oliver offered non-judgmental kindness that unified his team. He made everybody feel good about themselves. At times his leadership awed opponents.

This passion for soccer, pursued with exemplary human virtues, was coupled with compassion for the poor and the weak. “He was kind and gentle, but determined and strong in his convictions. He stood up for the weak and spoke up for those who wouldn’t,” said one of his teachers. “He wasn’t afraid to stand out, show his feelings, and stand up for what he believed in.”

Oliver was an empath. Visiting the Stations of the Cross above Bogotá, he was pained by the suffering of Jesus Christ. Confronted in Colombia by children begging in the streets, Oliver’s face streamed with tears. The same happened when he learned of children eating water-soaked paper to assuage their hunger. And seeing a poor person outside a Miami supermarket he confessed: “I cannot help it but it hurts me to see the homeless.”

Oliver’s compassion, humility, kindness and sense of fun were captured in the joyful sweetness of his smile. But he was also mature beyond his years. His math coach wrote: “When I look back to the six years I spent tutoring Oliver, I’ve come to realize that all this time, he was tutoring me.