Tristin Greer, whose battle with cancer was publicized when his firefighter father Jason Greer competed in Chattanooga’s Ironman race in September and in the Ironman 70.3 this month to raise money for two charities, died Friday. The Chattanooga Fire Department shared a post with the news on its Facebook page Friday night.
Chattanooga resident Tristin Greer throws out the first pitch at a Cleveland Indians baseball game earlier this summer.Tristin, 18, was diagnosed with Stage 4 neuroblastoma, a pediatric cancer that affects nerve cells, in February 2010. In an obituary shared with the Times Free Press, his family wrote that then-13-year-old Tristin didn’t let the diagnosis get him down.
“It was as if he had been given a dare,” the Greers wrote. “A dare to fight. A dare to defy the odds. And a dare to courageously live with purpose. Our Tristin accepted the challenge and refused to let the ailments that burdened his body, burden his soul.”
The obituary said Tristin had recently completed his first year at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, where he was majoring in chemistry with plans to go to pharmacy school.
Tyler Goldberg, who took Western Humanities with Tristin at UTC in the fall, remembered his classmate on Facebook.
“He was probably, truly the kindest person I’ve met since coming to Chattanooga for school,” Goldberg wrote. “He was special, and I’m honored to say I got to spend the last part of his time here on Earth with him.”
Tristin’s perseverance inspired his dad to compete in September’s Ironman race, despite weighing north of 300 pounds and standing well shy of 6 feet at the time he decided to do it. In an earlier Times Free Press story, Greer said he was competing to both honor his son and raise money for two charities that were kind to his family — the Make A Wish Foundation of East Tennessee and Emily’s Power for a Cure, a Hixson-based charity dedicated to finding a cure for neuroblastoma.
“I just wanted to do something big,” he said then. “It’s an incredible opportunity to do something for others.”
Greer finished the 2.4 mile swim, 116-mile bike ride and 26.2 mile run ahead of the 12:15 a.m. cut-off to be designated an Ironman finisher. He also competed in the Ironman 70.3 event held May 17 in Chattanooga.
A funeral service for Tristin will be held at 11:00 a.m. Tuesday at UTC’s Patten Chapel.
See the obituary here.
Contact Will Healey at whealey@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6731.