By Tim Mayne and Mel Dee
Levi Tracy, the young man from Seville Grove who captured the hearts of people from all over the world, has sadly passed away.
Levi was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin’s T-Cell Lymphoma at the tender age of seven, and he underwent two and a half years of gruelling chemotherapy.
Cancer reared its ugly head again when Levi was just 17 – this time a diagnosis of Acute Myeloid Leukaemia triggered by his past chemotherapy treatment.
He fought tooth and nail to beat cancer a second time, only to hear the news earlier this year that the cancer had returned.
In June he underwent his second stem cell transplant. But this time the two-time champion met his match.
His body was struggling to overcome an infection, and Levi made the brave decision to be put into an induced coma last week – sparing his parents that decision.
He never woke up. And on Tuesday his parents’ worst fears were realised.
His father Mark posted a moving tribute to his beloved son:
“This day was never meant to arrive.
“This morning at 9:15am our brave warrior, our Mighty Fighting Tiger gained his wings.
“Levi passed away peacefully this morning with Nikki and Nikita and myself by his side. Cameron arrived a few short minutes after.
“We are broken beyond compare. We have no idea how to move forward and keep going, but we will find a way. Levi would want that.
“We arrived at ICU at around 9am yesterday and we were not allowed in to see him until 11:15am. This immediately rang alarm bells for us. The Doctors informed us straight away that Levi had a difficult night, and from around 1:30am they had battled hard to stabilise him as he struggled. He finally settled at 11:00am.
“They informed us that he had maybe 24 hours left. So, we rallied the troops and he had a steady stream of visitors all day, and into the evening. His best mate Leyton and his girlfriend Saaskia stayed until 11:00pm. Cam stayed a little longer before he too decided to rest at home.
“Nikki, Nikita and me stayed through the night, with Nikki and me taking shifts alongside him before the three of us gathered around him at about 8:00am. At about 8:40am it became apparent that Levi was ready to sign off.
“Cam was on his way.
“We were given the option to remove the life support and everything else but that would not be right. Levi would want to fight right to the end so that is what he did.
“His lungs were no longer able to cope and his blood pressure dropped to unsupportable levels.
“In the end his heart just simply stopped. The load on his entire body was just too much.
“The infection in his lungs was the cause, and triggered everything else.
“He fought a massive fight and never gave up, the mountain was just too big. The respect he earned from the ICU team was immense as he courageously pushed himself beyond all of their predictions and in the end they called him a champion.
“He was so much more than that. He was the life of the party, the light in the room, he brought the fun everywhere he went.
“He will always be our hero, our Mighty Fighting Tiger.
“Please stay with us on this pages as we will have some updates in the Hoodies and a special project to do with the Unocorn.
“We will over time transition the pages to honour Levis Life and the Legacy he leaves.
“With Broken hearts, We Fight On. DON’T WASTE TIME. Eye of the Tiger!”
Levi’s mother Nikki also posted a message in tribute to their brave son:
“RIP my beautiful boy. We miss you already. My heart’s broken. Wait for me and show me the best beaches in the world when I get there. Till we meet again. Levi Matthew Tracy 4/9/2004 – 2/7/2024. Don’t waste time. Eye of the tiger”.
In May, The Examiner spoke to Levi’s family about Levi’s fighting spirit and his continuing will to live his life to the fullest.
In October last year, just six months after his biggest battle, he walked triumphantly across the stage at his Year 12 graduation.
“From looking death in the eye, spitting in death’s face and flipping the bird. To fighting through everything that was thrown at him and winning. To say we are proud of him is obvious, but we are in awe of him. His resilience, his humour, his smile, his determination, his spirit, his will to not just survive but thrive,” his father Mark said.
For a while, life allowed Levi to be normal.
He started an apprenticeship as a diesel mechanic, and did as much surfing and bush bashing as he could with his purple ‘Unocorn.’ Through it all, he kept his trademark smile and humour.
Tributes continue to flow from all over the world for the brave young man who set an example for all of us to follow.
