Carson Balkman

Carson is the youngest of four kids, and he loved being the baby of the family. He was proud to be the only family member with brown eyes, a reminder of his Native American heritage on both sides of the family. He was also the only kid with glasses!

Carson was an athlete from the beginning. His first words were “bat” and “ball” and he loved playing sports. He was the big hitter on his baseball team and played catch with some kind of ball wherever we went. He loved skiing, skateboarding, and surfing. On skis, he caught up to his siblings quickly and was skiing black diamond runs when he was 5 years old. By the last season before he passed, he was sending big 180’s in the Whistler terrain park. At the skatepark, he could always find unique lines that the rest of us hadn’t tried yet. He also liked cruising around the park on his scooter and dropping into ramps sitting on his skateboard (“butt-boarding”). His favorite surfing spot was Westport, where we had a routine of camping, surfing, and getting fish tacos and ice cream afterwards. He would choose the brightest color ice cream (like bubble gum or rainbow sherbet).

His other favorite desserts were Nutella & Marshmallow-flavored Milkshakes, s’mores, and cookies. He liked to add candy to the shopping cart at the grocery store- usually sour gummies or a tube of mini M&Ms. He was the best eater in our family and liked almost all foods…except brussel sprouts. He called them “brussies” and could always tell when we tried to sneak them into a meal.

He loved Marvel characters, especially Spider-Man and Rocket Raccoon. His favorite video game was Lego Marvel Super Heroes. He liked to reenact fight scenes with Camden, using toy swords or nerf guns. He was a big fan of books at bed time, and his favorites across his childhood were “Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?, We’re Going on a Bear Hunt, No, David!, What would Danny Do?, and Creepy Carrots. He loved music, especially rock, rap, and anything he could dance to. He made up the best dance moves that were all his own. He was really good at freestyle rapping on the car ride to school, and he was the first person in our family to dance at a powwow.

He had a lot of unique characteristics. When he was little, he loved throwing rocks into the water, and as he got older, he collected rocks and was very particular about finding the right ones. He wore his hat backwards because, “that’s how the cool kids do it.” He liked wearing sweatpants and no socks, hated mint-flavored toothpaste, and preferred having someone else peel his oranges and tie his shoes (even though he could do it himself). He also liked to help blow out birthday candles, no matter whose birthday it was. Instead of saying sorry to his siblings, he would say “suey”because it seemed like he was apologizing, but he wasn't really sorry.

Carson was a very talented artist. He drew and painted so much that we are still finding more of his artwork in folders and notebooks. Nearly every night, he would show up after bedtime with another drawing he wanted us to see. He made creative homemade gifts, without any help, for birthdays and holidays. One example was a gift for dad: a drink holder he made out of painted cardstock with a long pipe cleaner attached to a magnet, so dad could connect the drink holder to his computer monitor while he worked. He also loved making Lego spaceships, hot wheels tracks, and cardboard skateparks for fingerboards.

He loved bears since he started talking. He had a bear-themed party for his 7th birthday, and one of his gifts was a wooden bear whistle. During the first week of 1st grade, we received a notice that a bear was seen near his school, and he started wearing his bear whistle around his neck. He blew on the whistle as he walked to school, hoping it would call the bear to him (not knowing that it was meant to scare off the bears).

Carson was the peacemaker in our family. When one person needed to climb over to the back seat, and nobody else wanted to do it, he would volunteer. He shared his toys, candy, and anything that was special to him. He loved roasting marshmallows, but he always roasted them for other people first before he made his own s’more. He was a hugger. He loved being held, sitting between Mom and Dad, and giving gifts or hand-drawn cards. He loved us all, but admitted that Mom was the best! We found out after he died that there was one kid in his class that played alone and didn’t have any friends. Carson went out of his way to include him and invited him to be part of his group.

Carson told us that when he grew up, he wanted to be a “chemist doctor,” own a limousine with a hot tub, and fly his own airplane to Antarctica to bring home a pet penguin. The week before he died, Carson landed his first backflip on the trampoline and learned how to skip rocks on the lake.

On September 23, 2022, Carson died unexpectedly in his sleep at seven years old. He was healthy his whole childhood, and we’re still looking for answers on his cause of death, but it falls into a category called Sudden Unexplained Death in Childhood (SUDC), where the cause remains unexplained after a thorough case investigation. Like most SUDC deaths, Carson was very healthy, went to sleep with a minor stomach bug, and never woke up. At this time, we do not know what causes SUDC, how to predict it or how to prevent it, but Carson’s DNA is being used for ground-breaking research at the University of Washington through the SUDC Foundation, to find answers.

The week leading up to Carson’s death, his nightly drawings changed from fighting scenes to beautiful buildings he called “palaces.” The night before he died, Akasha commented that his drawing looked like a palace in heaven, and he said, “I know” with a smile. He took the time to express his love to each of his siblings that night. A couple of hours before he died, he told Dad, “I’m feeling a lot better. Tell Mom she doesn’t need to worry anymore.”

We know Carson is still with us, just in a different way. He is a powerful angel, and he finds so many ways to remind us he is near. We still miss him every day, but Carson's life continues to affect the way we live. His memory has inspired our family to serve others, support grieving families, raise awareness of Sudden Unexplained Death in Childhood, preserve Native culture, and help other people Care Like Carson.