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Preschooler with cancer writes his own obituary

DES MOINES, IA (WCMH) — Family members are mourning the death of a five-year-old boy after his battle with pediatric cancer. 

With the help of his parents, Garrett Matthias wrote his own obituary to tell the world he was during his five years.

“What really bothered me was he always asked, ‘why am I always sick?’”

These words broke Ryan and Emilie Matthias’ hearts for nearly a year. Their son’s passing was inevitable, but came quicker than anticipated. 

“We never necessarily talked about his funeral so we never had the conversation with him that he was going to die but we had a lot of conversations around, ‘when I die I want to do this,’” Emilie said. 

Garrett, a superhero fan, a lover of thrash metal music, and perhaps better known as “Great Garrett Underpants,” was not a typical kid. 

His obituary is a reflection of this, detailing all the things he loved and all that he didn’t.

In his final words, the preschooler made some final requests–no funeral, because those are sad. Instead, he wanted a party with five bounce houses, one for each year he lived, a visit from Batman, and, of course, his favorite treat– a snow cone.

The most unique request was a symbolic Asgardian burial ceremony similar to that in “Thor,” one of Garrett’s favorite movies. 

“We’ve cried oceans of tears in the last nine months and I think this is one of the things that we can do to make his day,” Emilie said. 

Garrett’s celebration of life will take place this Saturday. The symbolic burial he requested and fireworks will happen at sunset.