Tristin Greer, Ironman inspiration, dies at 18

Chattanooga resident Tristin Greer throws out the first pitch at a Cleveland Indians baseball game earlier this summer.
Chattanooga resident Tristin Greer throws out the first pitch at a Cleveland Indians baseball game earlier this summer.
photo Chattanooga resident Tristin Greer throws out the first pitch at a Cleveland Indians baseball game earlier this summer.

Tristin Greer, whose battle with cancer was publicized when his firefighter father Jason Greer competed in Chattanooga's Ironman race in September and the Ironman 70.3 earlier this month to raise money for two charities, died Friday. The Chattanooga Fire Department shared a post with the news on its Facebook page Friday night.

Tristin, 18, was diagnosed with Stage 4 neuroblastoma in February 2010. In an obituary sent to the Times Free Press, his family wrote that Tristin didn't let the diagnosis get him down.

"It was as if he had been given a dare," the Greers wrote. "A dare to fight. A dare to defy the odds. And a dare to courageously live with purpose. Our Tristin accepted the challenge and refused to let the ailments that burdened his body, burden his soul."

The obituary said Tristin had recently completed his first year at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, where he was majoring in chemistry with plans to one day go to pharmacy school.

A funeral service will be held at 11:00 a.m. sTuesday at UTC's Patten Chapel. The family will receive friends from 2-8 p.m. on Monday at the Chattanooga Funeral Home, North Chapel.

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