Her father, Ben, shares her courageous story.
Claire was born in Manhattan Beach, California on 4th September 1991 to my wife Patty and I. She was the younger sister of our first child, Sarah, who loved and adored her.
From a young age, Claire was irrepressibly happy; teaming with energy, she flapped, she twirled, she loved to laugh. Beautiful and vivacious, brave and strong, compassionate and kind, she left her mark on everyone she met.
Claire loved sports, being active and athletic for as long as I can remember. She enjoyed soccer, ice hockey, lacrosse, golf, tennis, kayaking, paddleboarding, mountain biking and skeet-shooting.
A surfer and snowboarder, she loved beach life and breathing mountain air.
Whilst attending college at the University of Colorado in Boulder, Claire began to experience persistent pain in her left thigh. She repeatedly visited the health center, and doctors thought her pain was muscular.
Eventually, in May 2012, Claire was sent for an x-ray, which uncovered a tumour in her femur (thigh bone). After that, it wasn't long before she was diagnosed with osteosarcoma.
We drove to Colorado to collect Claire and her things before taking her back home to Miami, Florida. She was treated initially at the University of Miami Hospital in the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center. There, Claire received pre-operative chemotherapy and limb-salvage surgery, followed by more chemotherapy.
During the first surgery, Claire's surgeons put a bone graft in, but unfortunately the bones never grew together.
Claire received more surgery to encourage the bone growth, and then went back to university. We thought everything was behind us, until Claire broke her leg and required more surgery with an orthopaedic surgeon out in Colorado.
It was at this point we realised the bone graft wasn't going to work.
Claire was determined to continue with university life in Colorado. When it was established that wasn't possible, Claire decided to enrol in nursing school in Erie, Pennsylvania.
After everything she had been through, Claire was determined to become a nurse so that she could help others.
Claire was cancer-free for around eighteen months before experiencing her first recurrence. At her semi-annual check-up, doctors found a new tumour on her right hip and shadows on her lungs. We went back to the Sylvester Comprehensive Center in Miami. Here, it was recommended that we attend one of the major cancer hospitals that deal with bone cancer more frequently.
We decided upon Memorial Sloan Kettering in Manhattan, New York. Claire liked the doctors and, having lived in New York, she had more of a support system there. In light of this, we settled in Pennsylvania so that we could drive Claire to New York for her treatment.
Claire was treated there for 1.5 years with chemotherapy, two lung surgeries, hip surgery, and brain surgery when the cancer spread there too.
During Claire's treatment, she stayed at the Ronald McDonald House in New York, which was just a few blocks away from the hospital. There were very few young adults there, and Claire would speak to some of the children about her journey.
Seeing young children battling leukaemia or undergoing brain surgery, Claire said that no matter what she was going through, it was nothing compared to what they were going through.
Throughout it all, Claire was determined not to give up. She had to grow up quickly, and she faced everything with so much courage and grace.
Devastatingly, the chemotherapy for Claire's brain metastasis didn't work. That's when she started on experimental drugs, but nothing was working. During her lifetime, Claire experienced two recurrences. After the second one, we spoke about the fact that she may not survive. Those were difficult days.
During her experimental treatment, we enrolled Claire onto a programme so that she could get "Angel Flights" – small, private planes that could pick us up and take us to the hospital because of the long journey.
It was kind of fun, and certainly a big deal for Claire. There were a couple of times when Claire wouldn't have been able to get to hospital if not for the flights.
Claire was twenty when she was diagnosed, and twenty-four when she died. There were difficult times, but Claire was an extremely resilient young lady with a great passion for life. She was always the one saying: let's go for it, let's try this new treatment, I want to have the next surgery.
It was very hard hearing from the oncologists that there was nothing more they could do. That was the most heartbreaking moment.
Claire was incredibly close to her grandmother growing up. When she died in March 2016, Claire was holding her hand. At that point, Claire knew her treatments weren't working, and was preparing herself for what was to come. She told her grandmother that she would be seeing her soon.
Claire died peacefully at home on 11th August 2016, surrounded by her family and friends.
I am dedicated to continuing Claire's legacy, through my - and my family's - support for the Bone Cancer Research Trust, and in my role as vice-chair of the Osteosarcoma Collaborative, a non-profit organisation in the US that's dedicated to finding new treatments for osteosarcoma patients.
I will never stop advocating and fundraising for kinder, more effective treatments that enable young people with bone cancer, like Claire, to have a future.
Donate now (This link opens in a new window) More about Osteosarcoma