Senior Nachu Bhatnagar passed away April 6 at the age of 18 after a two-year battle with Ewing’s Sarcoma. He is survived by his mother, sisters junior Gauri and sophomore Radha, and his extended family. His father passed away last year.

The CHS community honored Nachu at a memorial service in the auditorium April 10. Students  then gathered in the garden outside the school to plant a tree in his memory.

“The courage he displayed in the last year-and-a-half was unbelievable,” said Adam Field, Nachu’s former history teacher who spoke at the memorial.

Connor Armstrong, who spoke at the memorial and helped to plant the tree, reflected on Nachu’s skills as a natural leader.

“He really knew how to work with people,” Armstrong said. “He was a really charismatic guy who could make people perform their best.”

Those around him note how positive he remained throughout his fight with cancer.

According to Christopher Forney, Nachu’s AP World History teacher who spoke at his memorial, Nachu was “never negative” and “always maintained hopefulness.”

Friends and family surrounded him towards the end of his life, and even through his pain, Nachu continued to look out for others.

“Even during his very last week when friends would come over to visit, he would be in absurd amounts of pain, but rather than sending people home, he would lie there silent, no complaints, no cries,” Nachu’s cousin Meghna Balakumar said. “He really and truly cared about everyone around him and whether we were happy.”

Nachu’s loved ones are able to take comfort in the fact that he is no longer suffering.

“During the last few months, he was in a lot of pain,” Gauri said at the memorial. “I’m happy he’s in a better place with my dad.”