Alex Pancoe, mountain climber, dies while battling leukemia, fundraising for Lurie Children’s Hospital: ‘He was full of life’

CHICAGO (WLS) — A mountain climber from the Chicago area who was battling leukemia is being remembered on Tuesday for his extraordinary courage and dedication to helping others.

Alex Pancoe, 39, died while climbing in the Himalayas. The journey was to raise money for cancer research. His wife, Nina Pancoe, shared his remarkable drive to help others and his passion for the mountains.

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“He was full of life. He had so much passion and kindness. He just wanted to give back to the community through climbing, something he loved so, so much,” Nina said.

Alex was an accomplished mountain climber and Northwestern University graduate who had scaled Everest and Denali, all in an effort to raise money for Lurie Children’s Hospital and cancer research.

“He loved raising money for Lurie Children’s. He was treated for a brain tumor when he was in college. To be able to give back something he loved so much,” Nina said.

Nina says not long ago, they learned Alex’s cancer had returned. But his training for the grueling climbs continued.

“He told me, ‘I’m not going to let cancer stop me. Prove to people no matter what they get in life, you can do it,'” Nina said. “When someone is so passionate about something, you can’t take it away. You have to cheer him on. I was my husband’s biggest cheerleader. I know how happy the mountains made him.”

The day Alex died, Nina says, he had just returned to base after acclimating for the big summit climb of Mount Makalu, the fifth highest mountain in the world. Alex apparently went into cardiac arrest just an hour after Nina spoke to him. They have a 2-year-old son and an infant daughter.

“He said, ‘What scares me is not being there for my kids.’ He loved his kids to the moon and back,” Nina said. “He died in a place he loved; he died doing what he loved. That’s something I have to hold to my heart.”