Hi! I'm Jamie Huerta, Shanna's sister. Thank you for your support and following Craig's journey. Now, we need to focus on creating a foundation of support for Shanna, Cade, and Colt as they adjust to the loss of an extraordinary husband, father, coach, mentor, and teacher.

_______________________________________

Service Information:

CRAIG STEPHEN LABORDE

November 14, 1964 - April 29, 2024

SERVICE

Holy Family Catholic Church, 155 Holy Family Lane, Luling, LA 70070

Saturday, May 4, 2024

Visitation - 9:00 a.m.

Mass - 11:00 a.m.

Repass will follow immediately in the Parish Center.

#coachcraigscrusade2crushcancer

_______________________________________

4/29/2024: (A message from Shanna Laborde) I am sad to report that Coach Craig Laborde passed away at 0604 this morning. He was comfortable and at peace. He was an extraordinary husband, father, coach, mentor, and teacher; the waves of his influence will continue to travel to innumerable future generations. Please continue to pray for me, the boys, and our entire family. Final arrangements will be forthcoming and shared far and wide so that we may all celebrate the life of this amazing man as one.

#coachcraigscrusade2crushcancer

____________________________________

In mid-December we began an unimaginable journey... on December 22, 2023, Craig presented to the local emergency room with terrible, unrelenting back pain. That very day we began our biggest fight to date - a fight for his life. By January 5th, we learned who our opponent was --- Craig was diagnosed with Stage IV metastatic melanoma. His body is riddled with cancer; he has metastatic tumors in his spine, pelvis, femurs, retroperitoneum, and brain; the cancer has eroded his bones and caused fractures in his ribs and throughout his spine. Craig began aggressive treatment quickly. January 27th, he once again ended up in the ER, but this time due to severe treatment related side effects. He had been in the hospital for over a week trying to get better; the side effects proved to be unrelenting and a procedure to get a detailed look inside his body and gather more data was performed; during that procedure, he aspirated, was whisked away to ICU, and subsequently placed on a ventilator. We reported that, as we all well know, he is strong and tenacious himself, and he came off the ventilator after 2 days! During yet more testing while in the hospital, we learned that his extremely aggressive cancer has caused additional metastases within less than a month. Craig underwent surgery to remove a growth on his thoracic spine that could paralyze him if not removed. We saw an extremely hard battle ahead of us…

As the months have passed Craig has faced many hurdles and is still continuing to fight. Craig underwent many procedures such as a laminectomy at T5/T6, a shunt placement in his brain to relieve pressure, and placement of two rods in each of his arms.

As we continued to maintain radiation, immunotherapy, and medication schedules we recently found out a few things:

Craig can no longer handle the immunotherapy treatments.

Craig cannot continue radiation and considering chemo will be too hard on his body.

Craig's metastases continue to spread at a rapid rate.

Craigs recent studies showed the cancer has begun to invade the lining of his brain and it is also beginning to encapsulate the end of his spinal cord.

The next steps in Craig's journey are to transition to hospice 24-hr care and be made comfortable.

I ask that everyone keep Craig and the boys in your prayers.

We are very grateful to our family and close friends who have loved and supported us thus far; now I am pleading for additional help by asking all prayer warriors near and far to CONTINUE PRAYING FOR CRAIG!!!

“When you go through deep waters, I will be with you.” Isaiah 43:2

#coachcraigscrusade2crushcancer