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It was a  sad day for many when the news broke that Tyler Trent had passed away.  His funeral was earlier this week. Tyler, as most know, is the 20 year old Purdue superfan that lost his battle with a rare form of cancer. 

Tyler’s story was known in central Indiana and then went nationwide this Fall when ESPN did a feature on him prior to Purdue’s huge upset win over Ohio State. 

Tyler was much more than a fan of Purdue football.  He became a true inspiration to thousands, if not millions of people.

When I think of Tyler, I think of a book I read by Max Lucado years ago called “How to Outlive Your Life.”  The premise of the book was to live a life doing things that mattered … that what you do with whatever time you have on earth, continues to impact people well after you are gone.

Because of his story …

  • Purdue has created a cancer research endowment in his name that will help fund cancer research.
  • He formed his own organization called “Teens with a cause” that recurits kids to do service projects to help others.
  • He donated his tumor to Riley Hospital.  He was hopeful that his tumor would lead to breakthrough against bone cancer.
  • He wrote a book called “The Upset” shortly before he died to support cancer research. 

And mostly, he inspired many with his cheerful and upbeat attitude, under extremely difficult circumstances.

In 20 years on Earth, Tyler accomplished more than most of us will in a lifetime.  And his inspiration and work will continue to help others.

He truly outlived his life.

So our challenge today – is to make it a point to do the same.  To take time to do things that matter.  And like Tyler, may we outlive our lives too.