Aloha & thank you for taking the time to view this webpage!
Caleb Lyons was a 22 year old young black man who attended the University of Hawai’i at Manoa as an aspiring cinematographer. Caleb was also a musician and a taiko player who won the 2014 Taiko Group Championship at the Ikeda Youth Ensemble National Competition. He enjoyed learning, gaming, dry humor, lions, and cats. Being around him was like a giant warm comforting hug.
On Saturday, August 20, 2022 shortly before 6pm, my brother, Caleb Lyons, passed away. He had been struggling with non-epileptic seizures & a rare neurological & autoimmune disease called Stiff-Person’s Syndrome (https://rarediseases.info.nih.gov/diseases/5023/stiff-person-syndrome). He passed after being unconscious in the ICU for a week.
(Warning: In depth medical talk)
Caleb had been administered to the ER on Friday, August 12th after having two non-epileptic seizures that afternoon and complained of trouble swallowing therefore, he was unable to take his seizure preventative medications. Caleb’s Stiff-Person’s Syndrome is triggered by loud or sudden noises, vibrations or movement, or emotional distress therefore, we suspect the loud jets of the Blue Angels practicing their runs right over his room in Kaneohe for hours triggered his seizures. As the paramedics were taking him to the hospital that evening, he had an epileptic seizure and Caleb’s Neurologist surmised that his abdominal muscles had contracted or seized so tight that it crushed his diaphragm, which caused him to stop breathing and his heart to stop beating and subsequently went into cardiac arrest and was revived. This occurred twice within a 20 minute time span. Unfortunately, due to the loss of oxygen to his brain, he sustained extensive brain damage. Caleb was unconscious until he was administered multiple thorough exams that showed he was brain dead. He was legally declared deceased on Saturday, August 20th. Caleb’s Neurologist had found out later that people with Stiff-Person’s Syndrome will sometimes just stop breathing, leading to their passing away. Unfortunately, this is what happened to Caleb. Although we are heartbroken and devastated by the loss of our beloved Caleb, he was on a ventilator when he was declared deceased and therefore, he was eligible to be an organ donor to save people’s lives. On Tuesday, August 23rd, Caleb went into surgery and donated his organs. Although his own body had caused him illness, we know that Caleb would have been proud to be able to help save someone else’s life.
We all love and miss my brother, Caleb Lyons, dearly and we will have a Celebration of Life service on Wednesday, Oct 5th @ 10:00 am - 1:00 pm (Hawai’i Standard Time). For those of you who will be able to attend or unable to attend his Celebration of Life in person, we will send out eVites to RSVP & send you a link for LIVE video streaming. We are raising money to help my family alleviate the cost of the memorial or celebration of life services, cremation fee, Caleb’s unpaid medical bills, student loans, as well as any other unforeseen bills or costs for Caleb Lyons estate. ALOHA & THANK YOU for donating, sharing, or simply reading thus far.
Aloha & Mahalo,
The Lyons Ohana (Family)
If you are interested in attending the Celebration of Life services, either in-person, or virtually, please fill out this form to receive this invitation.