The Beckett Reiff Story

Beckett Reiff is the 2023 Happy Smackah. He is 15 years old and a freshman at Mead High School.

He IS a Happy Smackah. Beckett is currently climbing out of the fight of his life. A fight he did not see coming and one he was not expected to win.

His entire family are Happy Smackahs: his father Quinton, his mother Julie, and his younger brother, Teagan.

We had many nominations for Beckett, and it is clear that the Reiffs have affected their school, family, friends, church, and sports communities. They have instilled love, friendship, and community, and that all came back to them as Beckett fought for his life.

Beckett has been determined, athletic, kind, academic, and a leader for years. He loves sports of all makes and manner, but especially football, wrestling, rugby, and snowmobile racing. He is also an avid water skier and snow skier.

On December 3rd, his life, the Reiffs’ lives, changed forever.

After a wrestling match on December 3rd, he didn’t feel “great.” Within a day, he felt worse. Then, he was overcome with nausea, vomiting, and coughing. His father saw his glassy eyes and confusion and knew they needed help. He carried him to the truck and raced to the ER.

The ER team at UCHealth Longs Peak Hospital quickly diagnosed Beckett with Influenza A, Pneumonia, and a blood infection that had gone septic. He was in acute respiratory failure and was intubated and put on a ventilator. An ICU transport team was quickly assembled and he was transported by ambulance to Children’s Hospital in Aurora where he was admitted into the PICU.

His team of healthcare professionals worked to secure him into a “stable” state. Though stable, he was critical. Over the first few hours, his symptoms worsened requiring constant evaluations and reevaluations and adjustments to his care. Within about 18 hours of being admitted, he had to be put onto an extracorporeal membrane oxygenation machine (ECMO) to support his heart and lungs.

Even with the ECMO machine doing the work for his heart and lungs, his other organs (specifically his kidneys and liver) were continuing to worsen. Julie and Quinton longed for any sign that he might survive. They held fast and true in their focus on helping Beckett in his fight. They made themselves focus on any little improvement that happened and celebrated it versus focusing on all the things that were continuing to go in the wrong direction. Julie was determined to let every one of Beckett’s caretakers know how hard he was fighting.

She was determined they understood exactly who he was and that he didn’t even know the meaning of the word quit. She asked his doctors to fight as hard as Beckett was fighting. Those doctors did that and more. Beckett’s medical case was a puzzle, and his team of doctors were determined to solve that puzzle.

Beckett was, for over two weeks, not expected to live. During this time, between the blood infection and his circulation into his leg being compromised by the ECMO machine, a very difficult decision had to be made to do a below knee amputation on his right leg. It literally came down to choosing life over limb. He also had to be placed on Continuous Renal Replacement Therapy (CRRT), a form of dialysis, to help support his kidneys.

His battle seemed insurmountable medically. When his liver shut down and the medical reality was that it was likely he would not survive this, his family, community and friends reached out and organized two prayer vigils. The first one was organized in less than a few hours. That first vigil came on the night of the most dire news in regards to his acute liver failure and the vigil was their call for love, hope, and prayers.

The second vigil was the very next day. It is estimated that around 200 people showed up to each of those vigils. Some people knew him, others had just heard of his story and wanted to offer their support in any way they could. In the span of those few days, miniscule rises in good numbers for his liver and his kidneys gave the family just enough hope.

Quinton, Beckett’s father, had asked God, during those darkest days, what they could have, that day, for every day during this battle. What they got each day was a slight bump in organ numbers, a smile from Beckett, a squeeze of the hand. That, Quinton expressed, was what they accepted.

When we interviewed the family, we asked them so many questions. The volume of procedures, in the short amount of time, was mind boggling. They had no time to breathe. As we discussed logistics, Julie consulted her planner, which was filled, each hour of each day. Filled. As she flipped through the planner, she explained she’d needed to buy one, just to keep track of all of Beckett’s procedures and appointments.

Every day, for weeks, was a new battle, symptom, and fear. His blood infection was being treated effectively but it was discovered on Christmas day that it had managed to get into his left eye. Even though this was another huge hit for the family to process, they were able to realize that it was actually a blessing that it was discovered when it was so that it could be treated and hopefully minimize the damage done to his eye.

As Beckett progressed to a much safer “stable,” a less dire potential prognosis, he was becoming coherent of his condition. We asked him what things he remembers, and he said, “I remember how nice everyone was. I remember saying, ‘ please’ and ‘thank you.’” He was kind, courteous, and smiling. And accepting. And he was a resolute warrior and determined to do his all to heal. When he learned he lost part of his right leg, he said his parents told him that it had to be done to save his life. So, he said: “thank you.”

His younger brother Teagan, during his brother’s battle and the family crisis, managed to maintain his 4.0 grade point average, lived with his grandparents for weeks during the crisis, and started wrestling at his middle school. When we asked Teagan how he made it through, Teagan was quiet. The brothers were cozied up in an oversized chair together, brothers in arms. He expressed that he knew how dire his brother’s fate was, what everyone told him about Beckett’s odds, but said “I knew he’d be okay. I just knew.” Teagan got choked up, and Beckett enfolded him in his arms to comfort him.

Because. That’s who Beckett is. He’s strong, empathetic, emphatically – single-mindedly and ruthlessly driven and determined. Beckett is a leader, a caretaker, a no-nonsense competitor and a passionate learner who embraces life.

Beckett is home from the hospital now after being there for a total of 49 days (33 days in the PICU). He’s moving around well on crutches. He’s taking online classes. He’d taken driver’s ed just before getting sick and now is driving with his permit. He is learning to drive with his left foot. When asked how that is, he smiled, shrugged, and said, “I haven’t known anything else.” He should be fitted for his first prosthetic in 2-4 weeks. He fully plans to get back to doing ALL of the activities that he loves doing and wants to get set up with whatever “feet” he needs to do that. He is moving forward on his new path with the same determined, positive attitude that he’s had his whole life. We dare someone to tell him he can’t and watch him prove you wrong! There are still many challenges in front of Beckett as his body continues to heal. He will need eye surgery in the near future as he currently cannot see out of his left eye. He’s on a special diet to help with his organs and blood pressure. Strength and stamina will take a while to return. Even with all of this in front of him, Beckett continues to inspire everyone who hears about him with his absolute grit and determination to succeed! There is no taking this out of him.

His family deeply believes that their entire community and beyond, and all of the love that abounds from such uplifting humanity plus their faith, saved Beckett. They are beyond grateful for the doctors, nurses and specialists at Children’s Hospital Colorado Anschutz who cared for Beckett through all of this. Without them and this amazing facility, Beckett would not have survived!

We are proud and deeply honored to introduce Beckett Reiff as our 2023 Happy Smackah.

We thank you for your help and support in any way that you are capable – by participating in our Happy Smackah 5k Fun Run on May 13th, through a General donation, or by Volunteering.

We are also seeking Sponsors!  If you are interested in sponsoring the event, please visit our Sponsors Page or contact us by email.  Register for the 5k Fun Run Today!