About Justin Bissett

Justin William was born on February 9, 2000 in Lowell Massachusetts. His first name means "just" and "true." His middle name is a family name from a grandfather on both sides, William Turner and William Sellars. His parents are Jeff and Darlene Bissett, and his big sister (and best friend) is Casey Elisabeth Bissett.

Justin grew up in Litchfield, New Hampshire, it’s a small quiet farming town and a great place to be a kid. Justin loved video games, riding his scooter and bike, swimming, NASCAR, playing hoops, playing with his Tech Dech dudes and Rescue Heroes. Most of all he loved playing, fooling and joking around with his big sis' Casey. Justin was an intelligent, fun-loving, spunky, outgoing, sweet and affectionate little 7 year old. He had a great sense of humor and loved people.

In mid-January, 2006, Justin began to demonstrate some strange symptoms. He had headaches, slurred speech and right side weakness. His parents brought him to his doctor, who immediately sent the family to Children's Hospital for additional tests. To their horror, Justin was diagnosed with a rare brain stem tumor called a diffuse pontine glioma.

Approximately 1500 children in the United States are diagnosed with brain tumors each year, with gliomas accounting for only 10% of these cases. The prognosis from conventional doctors is very poor, the average survival time in children is 12-14 months.

On June 26, 2007 Justin became an Angel in Heaven. He fought so hard right to end , but he was tired of living in his sick body here on Earth. We supported him for 17 months as he fought his tumor, and supported him in his decision to leave us. We are so proud of him and how he handled his illness for nearly a year and a half. He was an incredible kid who touched many lives, he will be missed forever.