VAN METER, IA — There’s not much in this world that’s more heartbreaking than the death of a child, but mourners may be smiling through their tears Saturday at a celebration of life for “The Great Garrett Underpants” — rather Garrett Michael Matthias. The 5-year-old from Van Meter, Iowa, died last weekend of a rare form of cancer he had been battling since September.
Before The Great Garrett Underpants died, he asked for five bounce houses at a memorial service, one for each year of his life. Batman, his favorite superhero, will be there, along with snow cones, as he requested. The celebration of life at the Van Meter home of his parents, Ryan and Emilie Matthias, takes place from 5-11 p.m. Saturday.
It will include fireworks at sunset, along with “a symbolic Asgardian burial ceremony.” (Asgard, if you don’t know, is a fictional city adapted from Norse mythology in Marvel Comics books.)
Garrett’s form of cancer — stage 4 alveolar fusion negative rhabdomyosarcoma, or ARMS — attacked his temporal bone, cranial nerve, inner ear and eventually his body. He died Saturday, July 6, after doctors at the University of Iowa Stead Children’s Hospital told his parents the disease was not responding to chemotherapy and radiation.
Through “nine months of hell,” Garrett never once lost his sense of humor, his parents wrote in their son’s obituary. It lists not only the things he loved, but also those he didn’t — like pants.
And it said that after he dies, he wants to become a gorilla and “throw poo at Daddy!”
He also preferred cremation to burial — for a good, practical reason, according to the obituary, which said: “I want to be burned (like when Thor’s Mommy died) and made into a tree so I can live in it when I’m a gorilla.”
His parents plan to do their best to honor his wishes, writing: “A private burial of Garrett’s ashes will be held at a later time once his parents figure out how the hell to get his ashes made into a tree and locate a nature preserve, so his tree resides in a protected area.”
On a more serious, heartwrenching note, the Matthiases wrote:
“The reality for Garrett and so many other children is pediatric cancer is an ugly, nasty beast that leaves a path of destruction. For Garrett and many others before him — cancer kills. Those that are ‘lucky”enough to survive endure long term debilitating side effects and the constant fear of relapse. We will fight for a cure until no other kids are robbed of their childhood, no other siblings lose their best friends, and no other parents have to bury their babies.
“Garrett endured nine months of hell before he lost his battle with cancer. During that time he never lost his sense of humor and loved to tease the doctors and nurses. From whoopy cushions and sneaking clothespins on their clothes to ‘hazing’ the interns and new staff doctors, he was forever a prankster. Nothing caught people off guard as his response to ‘see ya later alligator’:
“See ya later, suckas! — The Great Garrett Underpants,” the obituary concluded.
A GoFundMe page has been established to help Garrett’s parents offset medical expenses. Memorial contributions may also be made at some of the nonprofit groups that helped him, including the Little Al Foundation, the Pink Tractor Foundation and the University of Iowa Dance Marathon.
Photo via GoFundMe, a Patch promotional partner
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