Neal Krisna Ramasamy was born on December 16, 2004 at 5:18 am at John F. Kennedy Hospital in Edison, NJ. With his siblings, Mira and Shawn, and his parents, Anu and Dan, Neal spent the first few years of his life in North Carolina and Wisconsin before settling in New Jersey. Along the way he turned over every rock and log looking for frogs, toads, salamanders and most importantly snakes. This infatuation for the creepy crawly continued throughout his life. Some of his prize finds were a ring-necked snake in Key West, a Jackson's chameleon in Hawaii, a large brown skink in North Carolina and a baby scorpion in Austin.

Neal was diagnosed with osteosarcoma at the end of 8th grade, a very rare type of bone cancer. Sweet little Neal grew up to be the man we saw throughout all the trials and tribulations of treatments and surgeries. He bore everything with grace and still found time to quench his insatiable curiosity for nature, travel, star-gazing, and herping (lizard hunting). All the while he was determined to keep up with his high school education. We are so deeply proud to say that Neal graduated high school with his class and gave the benediction speech at the graduation ceremony where he profoundly stated “you should plan for the future, but live in the present.” He planned to go to Bucknell University where he serendipitously found a professor that shared his passion for the rare Hellbender Salamander.

Neal lived life with gusto throughout his 18 years, and most specifically during this last year of his life. He traveled to Spain last Thanksgiving to see his sister in college, then the Great Ocean Road of Australia in December with his grandparents to visit his best friend, the North Shore of Hawaii in February with his aunt to explore tide pools, the swamps of Louisiana in March with his brother, the forests of California in the spring with his grandparents to see his aunts, and to New Hampshire in May to intern at his aunts vet clinic. And yes, he did find lizards and stars at every location. Neal enjoyed senior year to the fullest—danced with abandon at prom, stayed up late at the prom party by the lake, proudly walked at graduation and enjoyed a perfectly raucous weekend at the beach with almost 20 of his closest friends from school.

This summer we were aware a tumor was growing in his chest that couldn't be surgically removed and we were hoping radiation would keep it in check. In between treatments we had an unforgettable vacation this July in Puerto Rico with Neal's grandparents. He hiked, zip lined, climbed caves, jumped waves, kayaked to a bioluminescent lake and bathed under a waterfall. In early August he went to Tennessee where he stargazed, caught salamanders and snakes, learned yoga and hiked with his sister. Neal started college in mid August, but when he wasn’t feeling well we brought him home to rest and build energy. He spent those last two weeks of summer enjoying his favorite activities accompanied by his siblings, multiple cousins and family members. He was active and engaged up until his very last moments where he still managed to radiate boundless love and a newfound sense of peace. We went to the hospital on Friday, September 1st to manage a complication. The hospital was able to keep him comfortable, and his last words to us were that he loved us and would always be in our hearts. Neal passed at 5:25 pm on September 2nd at Memorial Sloan Kettering Hospital in New York City with his whole family by his side.

Neal Krisna Ramasamy has left an indelible mark on everyone he met. His fascination in the people in his life and the world around him was infectious, and in turn made all of us appreciate the beauty of each other and the world. May God bless his soul as he joins his grandmothers and grandfathers in heaven.

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