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Until The End
BY DENNIS KNIGHT
Louie Bonpua was in a race for his life.
Doctors told the 37-year-old from Milpitas he had as few as four days to live, but Bonpua planned to carry the Olympic torch in three.
Early Tuesday, he was pronounced dead.
"He was really happy on Saturday," his sister Aggie said. "He was so glad that it brought his family and friends together."
Bonpua lost his battle with a form of leukemia. His doctors at Kaiser suggested last week that he wouldn't be strong enough to participate in the torch relay.
But "Shrimp Louie" — as his sister affectionately called him — would have none of it.
It was just months ago that he completed his first Ironman Triathlon, so Bonpua was determined to enjoy his day in the Olympic spotlight. So determined, he concocted a plan to sneak out of the hospital to make the ceremony — he even had a friend who was an ambulance driver in on the scheme, his sister said.
The escape plan was set aside when a doctor decided to allow him to carry the torch. An ambulance picked him up at Kaiser-Santa Clara hospital at 4 a.m. Saturday and took him to San Francisco, stopping at another hospital along the way to pick up some morphine to ease his pain.
He was supposed to be pushed in a wheelchair, but, inspired by cheers of support, he got up and took the most challenging steps of his life.
Bonpua, a program manager for Cadence Design Systems in San Jose, was diagnosed in 1997 with chronic myelogenous leukemia, and within a year dropped from 150 pounds to 92. He couldn't walk on his own, his sister said.
But her brother was a fighter. A bone marrow donor match is hard to find, and even harder for Asian-Americans like Bonpua, so he started taking an experimental drug called Gleevec, which seemed to keep his white blood cell count in check.
Bonpua became involved with the Team-in-Training Program, a fundraising arm of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society in which people receive training for endurance events in exchange for raising money for the cause.
He got his weight back up to 150 pounds and began competing in triathlons. He attempted his first Ironman Triathlon — a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike ride and 26.2-mile marathon run -- in British Columbia in August. Five days before that race, Bonpua received a blood transfusion and chemotherapy treatment.
The race has a 17-hour time limit — and as midnight approached Bonpua neared the finish line surrounded by spectators chanting, "Louie! Louie!"
With arms raised, he finished in 16 hours, 56 minutes and 30 seconds. The next day he was awarded the Ironman Spirit Award.
"He was a very determined man," Aggie Bonpua said, "and was an inspiration for a lot of people."
IF YOU'RE INTERESTED
When he wasn't training or working, Louie Bonpua spent his time working with children suffering from cancer. His Web site, www.shrimplouie.com, has a section called "My Heroes," where he details stories of children such as 8-year-old Joanne Pang. A bone marrow drive will be held for Joanne from 3 to 6 p.m. Saturday at the San Francisco Richmond District YMCA, 360 18th Ave. (between Geary Boulevard and Clement Street). For information, call (415) 666-9607.
Louie Bonpua
Survived by: Parents Libby Bonpua of Stockton and Ramon Bonpua of Henderson, Nev.; sisters Marjorie Kerstetter of Issaquah, Wash., Kay McKercher of Henderson, Aggie Bonpua of Stockton; brothers Jose Bonpua III of Sunnyvale, Dominic Bonpua of Stockton; four nieces and one nephew.
Services: At 11 this morning at St. William's Catholic Church in Los Altos.
Memorial: Donations may be made to the Leukemia Society.
Source: San Jose Mercury News
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