Stephen “Miggy” Chavez, 29, passed away on November 14th 2017, surrounded by his family and loved ones. Words cannot begin to describe the lasting effect he has had on the Team Fortress community. He touched countless lives, many times extending a hand to complete strangers in need. Loving and kind, his laughter and smile could always light up a room. His life was taken away too soon after a courageous battle with cancer.

Miggy suffered from a malignant skin cancer, melanoma. Approximately two years ago he had identified a black spot on his back. Over the past two years he had that spot, and others like it surgically removed. Despite attending regular checkups with an oncologist, he found in August that it had spread to his bones and organs. He immediately began treatment via immunotherapy and spent the final weeks of his life a warrior; he fought for every last breath, not conceding anything to cancer, while remaining upbeat and positive until the end.
Miggy was an avid Star Wars fan. His family knew that he was very much looking forward to the release of The Last Jedi in December. Expecting that Miggy wouldn’t make it that long, his family reached out to Disney to get him access to the film prior to its release. On November 7th, LucasFilms flew a representative to the family residence in Miami to privately screen the film for Miggy and his entire family. He rated the film as the best Star Wars installment yet. High praise from a discerning film critic.

The family extends their warmest appreciation and gratitude at the tremendous outpouring of love and support they have received. They asks that as we remember and celebrate the light that Miggy was in this world, that we make sure that he did not suffer in vain. To that end, the family asks that each and every person reading this memorial familiarize themselves with melanoma and understand the steps that can be taken to reduce its horrific impact. The family suggests the following URL to begin informing yourself on this brutal disease.

https://www.cancer.org/cancer/melanoma-skin-cancer/detection-diagnosis-staging.html

Miggy’s service will be streamed on Twitch.tv on Saturday November 18th at 11:30 am EST by the kind and charitable folks from TeamFortress.tv. Please tune into the following url: http://twitch.tv/teamfortresstv
For those who missed the live stream, you can watch it here:
https://www.twitch.tv/videos/202354113## Service starts @ 30:00

The family asks that any donations be made, in his name, to two causes that Miggy cared greatly about. The first, Child’s Play, is a charity that seeks to improve the lives of children in hospitals and domestic violence shelters through the generosity and kindness of the video game industry and the power of play. Information on donating can be found at http://childsplaycharity.org/

The second cause, is more personal. Miggy had to have a port installed into his chest to receive immunotherapy treatment. He noticed that a traditional hospital gown was awkward for receiving an infusion. The gown had to be halfway removed and was uncomfortable for the entire infusion treatment. Miggy conceptualized an idea to create a gown with a flap that would make it easy for medical personnel to administer treatment while maintaining the comfort and dignity of the patient. Further, he wanted to make superhero themed gowns to uplift children afflicted from this horrible disease. The following GoFundMe is designed to turn that idea into a reality. https://www.gofundme.com/miggysgift