Elijah Clayton Cutler

Elijah Clayton Cutler passed away at the age of 17, on July 19, 2021 after a courageous battle with cancer. At the time of his death, he was surrounded in the loving arms of his mother, father, and sister. This world will never be the same without our tender-hearted, vibrant, and fun-loving son. He taught everyone who knew him the true meaning of love, courage, and perseverance. His positive attitude, despite all of the challenges he faced, is a gift that we will carry with us throughout our lives.

Elijah was born in American Fork, Utah on March 8, 2004. He was a big baby at 8 pounds 4 ounces, 20 1/2 inches. Immediately after birth it was discovered that he was born with severe heart defects. He was immediately rushed to Primary Children’s Hospital, where he underwent his first heart surgery at 3 days old. A month later he had his second heart surgery, correcting all of the defects, with a third heart surgery at 18 months old. His first months on this Earth were difficult, and we weren’t sure if he would make it through these complicated surgical procedures. But he persevered. Baby Elijah loved to eat and he thrived. He doubled his birth weight in 2 months and continued growing from there. A lot of babies in the Cardiology Unit struggle to put on weight, and this makes their recoveries much more difficult. Elijah, on the other hand, had no problem putting on weight and his cardiologist lovingly referred to him as the “Monster Truck.” Every time we saw him, he would chuckle at Elijah’s chubby rolls and round face, things that weren’t often seen in the cardiology unit. After those first few surgeries, Elijah did really well health-wise. Each yearly checkup filled his parents with anxiety as we knew that he would eventually need to have more procedures to ensure that his heart would continue to function as it should. But year after year, his visits were positive. His heart continued to support him without issue. He was generally a healthy kid that almost never got sick. It was easy to forget the inevitability of upcoming heart procedures. It wasn’t until 12 years later that his heart valve began to fail, requiring a replacement, with a second valve replacement in the fall of 2020. It was shortly after this second valve replacement that cancer was found. By the time it was discovered, the cancer had already metastasized to his lungs, liver, adrenal, scalp, and spine. Elijah was no stranger to medical treatments and hospital stays. He became quite adept and knew his body well. He could instruct the nurses exactly which vein they needed to use for drawing blood or an IV. He knew how to silence the alarms, and would constantly tell us “that beep is because of a dead battery – the machine needs to be plugged in.” Or – “that beep is because the IV drip is done and they need to change the bag.” His doctors and nurses all loved his gracious and kind nature. He was everyone’s favorite patient (ok, maybe his mom is exaggerating a tad).

Elijah was the second of only two children, with Camilla, his big sister, being 3 ½ years his senior. With such a big age gap, his parents worried that the two of them would never get along. But they couldn’t have been more wrong. From the minute Elijah was born, Camilla was his protector and best friend. The two of them were closer than most siblings. We never saw them fight (maybe get on each other’s nerves once in a while, but never fight). They loved to do everything together. When they were little, we repeatedly found the two of them cuddled up asleep, both sucking their thumbs. Camilla could be found reading picture books to Elijah, and Elijah always the goofball, making her laugh. As Camilla and Elijah grew older, and we moved to across the valley, to Pleasant Grove, they grew even closer. They loved to play Minecraft, Call of Duty, Halo (and all of their Dad’s Disney videogames). They geeked out over anime, made costumes, and dressed up for ComicCon. They would often go on drives together and go thrift-shopping. They both doted on the family cats: Lois, Mucha, and Vincent. Funny cat memes and inside jokes provided non-stop laughter in our home. More recently, Elijah was so excited to gain a brother when Camilla married Connor Waite in November 2020. Connor has the same sense of humor as the two of them, and it felt like they didn’t even skip a beat as he joined the new trio.

Elijah was quick to make friends. He was never shy about going up to people and starting conversations. Whether this was at the Arctic Circle playground, the neighborhood park, or befriending the adult neighbors, everyone knew and loved Elijah. This outgoing behavior always seemed a little odd to his somewhat reclusive parents, who were much more introverted and reserved. The first half of his life was spent in Saratoga Springs, with a street full of kids his own age. He went through a very LOUD stage, and didn’t have a filter. His voice carried throughout the cul-de-sac and neighbors always laughed about how they could hear him all the way down the street. He was joyful and boisterous, to say the least. He even made friends with the adults on the street, who were impressed with the entertaining conversations he would engage in. He had many close friends in that neighborhood and was upset about leaving them behind when the family moved to Pleasant Grove. As a 2nd grader, this felt like worlds away. But in typical “Elijah fashion,” he quickly made a lot of new friends in the new neighborhood whom he loved just as much. Some of the memories Elijah liked to reminisce about were: playing tag football (much to his mom’s dismay – did he not know this was a “no-no” with a heart like his?), jumping on the neighborhood trampolines, riding bikes up into the dirt hills and scavenging for bugs and rocks (or whatever kind of trouble little boys get into when they are up in the hills unsupervised), riding bikes to the snow shack, going on adventures off-roading and playing video games. His friends, and these memories were priceless to him.

Elijah had a unique fashion sense. He had grown up in a home with parents who were most comfortable wearing black. Elijah was the opposite. He loved vibrant colors, crazy sunglasses, and he wasn’t afraid to draw attention to himself with his fashion choices. He loved to go thrift shopping and put together one-of-a-kind “Elijah” outfits that could sometimes be quite interesting, to say the least. He had a super thick head of hair that he never quite figured out how to style, but he never seemed to care much and finally gave in to letting it “do what it wants to do.” He would say “Eh” with a waving hand motion because it just didn’t matter. Most of the time he walked around with bedhead and didn’t seem to think it wasn’t what everyone does.

Elijah grew up in a home where music played an important part. His mom and dad have always bonded over music, and loved attending concerts, discovering new bands. Elijah’s mom is a cellist, and it was important to us that Elijah grow up with an appreciation of good music. It was fun for his parents to see baby Elijah, who from the very beginning of his life, loved music. As a toddler, Elijah loved to watch an animated TV series called HBO Classic Baby. Instead of singing typical toddler songs, Elijah would walk around humming and singing the melodies from classical music: Bach, Tchaikovsky, Beethoven. His mom remembers lots of “awwwws” from bystanders when out in public, looking at adorable baby Elijah singing tunes that you don’t typically hear coming from a toddler. His love of music continued through the years, as he curated careful playlists, each with a particular “vibe” (as he would call it). He taught himself how to play the music from Minecraft on the piano, and took piano lessons for a few years before he decided it was something he preferred to listen to, more than to participate in as a performer. We enjoyed watching him develop his own musical taste, and grow his musical library well outside of what his parents had exposed him to. Elijah had an awesome taste in music.

Elijah was also a very gifted artist. His dad makes a living as a videogame artist, and just like his dad, Elijah grew up drawing pictures and creating artwork. Many consider his dad to be a talented artist, but his dad was in total awe of Elijah’s artistic skills. Elijah had an uncanny ability to draw and paint what he sees with remarkable accuracy. We are saddened that many of his current projects sit at his desk unfinished. He was amazingly gifted, and it hurts knowing that we won’t get the chance to see what he might have accomplished with his artistic talent.

Elijah suffered tremendously over the past 12 months due to the restricted pulmonary valve that deprived his body of oxygen, multiple pulmonary emboli, a compression fracture in his neck, lesions in his spine, and the cancer that had metastasized throughout his entire body. During the last year of his life, due to his medical issues, he missed going to school. He longed to spend more time with friends, but just felt too crappy. The pain was constant and never-ending, but he persevered with a smile through it all. He would say “it is what it is.” He didn’t know any other reality, and he just rolled with the punches, hoping every night that he would feel better the next morning. He had so much courage and was stronger than he ever knew. And even though we knew the inevitable end was approaching, his last moments seemed to come way too fast. During those last precious minutes, he was surrounded by his dad, mom, and sister. We were right there at his bedside holding his hand, comforting him as he left us. We will forever treasure those last moments that our family spent together. We are relieved that Elijah is no longer suffering, but we are inconsolable and truly heartbroken. Elijah leaves an enormous hole, and our family will feel “whack” without him here. We will miss you every day, bud! Thumbs up.

Family and Friends are invited to attend a memorial service on Friday, July 23 at 1:00. Viewings will be held July 22, 6:00-8:00pm and prior to the funeral on Friday from 11-1. Services will be held at Nelson Family Mortuary 4780 N. University Ave. Provo UT 84604. With the increasing number of COVID cases, we also invite you to attend virtually.

In lieu of flowers or gifts, the family requests that you send donations to Primary Children’s Hospital in Elijah’s name. This facility and the staff have been incredibly supportive, caring for Eli throughout his life. We are forever indebted to them, and we know that without the care of these skilled medical workers, we wouldn’t have been able to spend the last 17 years with him. We appreciate any support you’d like to contribute.