8:29AM on 8/29/1994 Chloe Belle Lindberg was born. Impeccably timed, so classically Chloe.
The often-told story of her birth is entering this world as a medical phenomenon. Her umbilical cord simultaneously tied in a perfect knot and wrapped around her tiny neck. Her parents recount the scene - dozens of fascinated doctors and nurses gathered around to witness this once in a lifetime neonatal spectacular. The room buzzing with equal amounts of trepidation and excitement. And, of course, embarrassment stemming strongly from her mom. SPOILER ALERT: she arrived perfect. The point of this story is that Chloe came into this life leaving an impression on everyone who got the opportunity to meet her. This is a fact that has never changed. Anyone who has ever had the gift of being with Chloe is fully aware.
Chloe was a unique soul with an uncanny ability to listen and comfort. She was warm, generous, kind, creative, strong, deeply sensitive and funny. Chloe had the most beautiful smile, contagious laugh, sweet personality, soft-spoken temperament and positive disposition. A billion adjectives can be used to describe Chloe but none of them would be enough to capture the essence that was Chloe. Chloe can be better described as a feeling. The feeling you get when you make someone feeling sad smile, the energy you feel looking out at the ocean, those moments when you realize how grateful you are for something. Chloe was an energy. The most beautiful energy. It stayed with you even after leaving her presence.
On December 7th, 2019, at age 25, Chloe was diagnosed AML (Acute Myeloid Leukemia), a type of rapidly progressing cancer of the blood and bone marrow. Her mutations were rare, and her chromosomes were affected. She received countless chemotherapy treatments and near the end of her life she entered a clinical trial, but her cancer was relentless and unforgiving. It never left her. It found its way to her CNS and invaded her spine. It eventually left her paralyzed and in horrific pain. After 13 months, Chloe passed away at home surrounded by her family.
Chloe exceeded every doctor's expectation. Her family was often met with curious and awestruck minds. Minds that could easily understand very complex chromosomal abnormalities yet couldn't comprehend how a young girl who was barely 90 pounds, paralyzed from her neck to feet and with every inch of her bone marrow filled to the brim with cells bred to kill could not only simply still be living but still remain with an untouched desire for life. Chloe’s positivity and love of life, people and animals remained a part of her until her last day. She continued to care strongly about others even while she was facing eminent death at such a young age. And it was that care for all other beings that inspired the creation of The Chloe Belle Foundation.
The Lindberg Family started this foundation as a way to honor Chloe and continue her life work; making people happy, leaving people better than when she found them and bringing joy. We hope to create a legacy for Chloe that will continue on and to put back into the world a tiny bit of what the world lost when we lost Chloe.
Chloe loved life. She was passionate about life. Chloe's dream was that one day, humans could get to a point where life was simply fun; an enjoyable place where we lived our highest dreams and truly helped each other and loved one another.; a place in which every day felt like vacation.
We believe that she is there now.