Courageous boy dies

Kellen Rice, 8, pointed to his eye, his heart, then to his mother.

Gestures were the only way Kellen, whose brain was slowly being strangled by an inoperable tumor, could communicate with Julie Rice on Saturday.

It was his way of saying, "I love you, Mom."

The Kirkland boy died in his mother's arms at Children's Hospital & Regional Medical Center in Seattle at 2:40 a.m. Sunday.

Kellen's plight and his courage captured the hearts of residents across the Eastside this year. The parents of his classmates at Alexander Graham Bell Elementary School organized a benefit auction at the Hyatt Regency Bellevue, raising more than $100,000. Proceeds helped pay for family living expenses and experimental cancer treatments in California and Texas.

Kellen's plight even helped launch a new charity, Mothers on a Mission, to help other families in need. Its purpose is to raise money for families when a terminally ill child or spouse undergoes medical treatment.

Even after his death, Kellen's cancer may help shed light on the disease. His mother said she donated Kellen's tumor to the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.

The end came too fast, Rice said.

The family recently returned from Texas with high hopes after Kellen had undergone an experimental treatment.

But two weeks ago the tumor had grown so large that Kellen aspirated food into his lungs when he tried to swallow. He was admitted to Children's on Sept. 13 because the ingestion triggered bacterial pnuemonia.

He returned home Sept. 17, but two days later he was struggling to breathe.

"My sister and I rushed him back to Children's during the night," Rice said. "The next morning he kept saying he loved me."

During Kellen's final days, when he could still whisper, he repeatedly begged to be put in "Mom's bed."

Kellen and his 10-year-old sister, Jade, loved crawling into bed with their mother to cuddle, talk and read books.

"It was a safe place," Rice said.

It broke her heart to tell him no, but she couldn't handle the medical treatment needed to ease Kellen's pain at her home.

In the midst of tragedy, there were treasured moments.

Kellen loved frogs. In his bedroom are six terrariums, home to different kinds of frogs and toads. He enjoyed watching, feeding and caring for them.

Jade and Rice carefully brought his favorite, a white tree frog, to Children's for a final visit.

When Kellen was frustrated about having to be tube fed, Rice teased him that she was putting Mexican food into the blender. It was his favorite meal.

His father, Edward Rice of Lynnwood, came to say goodbye Saturday, and so did Jade, who has cystic fibrosis. When Jade walked in the room, Kellen made his eye-heart-and-point motion.

"They had a special bond," Rice said.

He died surrounded by his first-grade teacher, his aunt, his grandmother and his mother.

"He kept staring at me, and I finally told him, `I gave you life, baby, now I give you wings. Go and fly. You've done everything here you could.' "

A celebration of Kellen's life is planned for Oct. 7. No location has been set.

Sherry Grindeland's phone message number is 206-515-5633. Her e-mail address is sgrindeland@seattletimes.com.