Kristian Schulze-Makuch

To have a gladiator’s heart in this day and age is rare, but to fight with everything you have and remain full of love, humor, and grace is an extraordinary feat, and that extraordinary feat belongs to our Kristian. 

From the age of four years old Kristian began his fight against cancer, and even being so young, he still remained full of joy. As the years went by, Kristian fought cancer five times, first rhabdomyosarcoma, twice osteosarcoma, and twice AML leukemia. In his last months, he battled countless infections, became paralyzed, lost his ability to see, hear, and speak, and passed away on September 11, 2024, at the age of 20. These battles are unable to encapsulate the struggles he faced in between diagnoses, biopsies, and reconstructive surgeries. Despite this, Kristian faced everything with outstanding grace. Even when he was in tremendous amounts of pain, he would thank the nurses and doctors who tried so hard to save him. When Kristian was at home, he never wanted his disease to be the center of attention, he always prioritized others, whether it was asking how they are, listening to their stories, or making everyone smile. His exceptional personality extended to his talents; where he started creating a video game, captured beautiful pictures with only a single eye, made homemade candy, ambitious meat dishes, wood carvings, and wrote and created stories that will forever touch our hearts. 

Despite the sadness of each and every cancer diagnosis, our family did everything in our power to make Kristian happy, whether it was a truckload of stuffed pigs, long hikes with our dog, a quest to find buried treasure, road trips and rollercoasters, meat-offs and bake-offs, building Legos, hours playing video games and board games, inventing fictional worlds, and having horror movie marathons. We did it all and would do it a million times over. We are especially grateful to the additional happiness brought by the Make A Wish Foundation, a foundation that grants a wish, no matter how big, for children undergoing cancer treatment. The Make A Wish Foundation took our family to Hawaii where we stayed in a Hilton, went to an authentic Luau, and saw an underwater world from a submarine. Our family was also able to go to Rome, where Kristian met Pope Francis, received his blessing, and walked in the Pope’s gardens. We have attached a donation link, so funds can be collected in his honor and to help this wonderful organization make more children’s dreams come true. Anlassspenden — Make-A-Wish® Deutschland (makeawish.de)

It was our privilege to have been a part of Kristian’s life and to have his joy and bravery touch so many. He was our brother, son, best friend, and a true cosmic wonder. We hope that Kristian has shown that a true gladiator’s heart isn’t determined by sheer strength alone, but kindness, joy, and a will to fight and protect the hearts of your loved ones.

Krissy or as many knew him as Kristian, had God in his heart, and his extraordinary fight of courage and kindness will echo in all those who knew him and in all those who will know his story. We hope you join us in honoring him during his memorial service on: October 10, 2024, at 14:00 at Saint Peter and Paul in Potsdam.