NJ teen dies, but you helped make his ‘bucket list’ come true

Just a few months after NJ 101.5 readers rallied to help fulfill the bucket list of a dying Keansburg teen, the family of Lucas Olenhaus announced that he lost his long battle with numerous illnesses on Wednesday.

"It's with great sadness that I tell you Lucas passed away on Wednesday," his mother, Denise Olenhaus, told NJ 101.5 on Friday. She also told supporters of her son's death on the family's GoFundMe page. "On Wednesday, February 24, 2016 at 11:43 in the morning Lucas lost his long battle. To say my family is devastated is an understatement. Lucas fought so hard and at the end of the day his lungs failed him. There is such an emptiness in our hearts."

Sixteen-year-old Lucas suffered from a multitude of serious health problems that left him without the ability to walk, speak or hear. He used his eyes to communicate, but his sight was deteriorating.

Back in November, his family started a GoFundMe page with the goal of raising enough money to fulfill items on Lucas' bucket list before his illnesses completely robbed him of his ability to see.

What happened next was overwhelming. Donations totaling more than $8,000 poured in to the GoFundMe page and representatives from places Lucas wanted to visit began offering him tickets and passes. His bucket list didn't include anything extravagant. In November, Denise told NJ 101.5 it was the simple things that made her son smile. Lucas loved cartoons, trees, balloons and car rides, and he especially loved sports. One bucket list item the family was able to fulfill thanks to the donations was a trip to see the Pittsburgh Steelers play.

"With the help of all your donations and a couple very special people to our hearts Lucas accomplished that. He was even invited on field and met a lot of players. I can't thank you enough," Denise wrote on the GoFundMe page Wednesday.

There was still more they wanted to cross off Lucas' bucket list when the weather warmed up, but his health began to rapidly deteriorate in recent months and Denise said they never had the chance.

Denise said that despite all of his medical problems and difficulties communication, Lucas was "such a happy little boy."

“If you meet my son for the first time, just looking at him, you fall in love with him,” Olenhaus said in November. “It’s the most incredible thing. He’s a big flirt. He loves the ladies.”

A wake for Lucas is planned for Saturday from 2-4 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. at Jaclyn Ryan Funeral Home, 233 Carr Ave. in Keansburg. On the GoFundMe page, Denise said of the services, "all are welcome to celebrate an amazing life a little boy led."

Toniann Antonelli is the digital managing editor for news at NJ 101.5. Reach her at toniann.antonelli@townsquaremedia.com, or on Twitter @ToniRadio1015.