Ashton Liang

This past week, we lost a good friend. Ashton Liang, one of our best friends, passed away on August 23 after a long and hard battle with aggressive NK-cell leukemia, a very rare condition. It was only 8 months ago when we were writing our UBC applications together, only 6 months ago when we were hooping at Cameron gym drop-in, and only 5 months ago when we still saw each other at school every day. Even just a month ago, we were still talking about our future plans, excited for all the life that awaited him post-recovery. He assured us that he would be okay even up until his last month as it was a part of his caring and selfless persona; he always wanted his friends to smile and laugh, no matter the circumstances. He didn’t want us to worry, but now that we sit here in grief, a sense of denial and remorse for our naivety is all that is left. In such a short time, we lost a brother who had grown with us, for some since elementary school and others since grade 8. As we spent this time reflecting on his life, recollecting all the bits of our past with him, and holding a little tighter to the memories we have left of him, we decided that we wanted to pay back even the slightest fraction of the impact he had on our lives. In honour of his life, we wish to raise funds for his funeral, which is set to take place this Friday. He leaves behind a younger sister and two loving parents who have worked tirelessly throughout this journey to do whatever they could to help him.