Isaac Christopher Phillips

Isaac Christopher Phillips

New Ipswich, NH - After a long, hard fight with synovial sarcoma, Isaac Christopher Phillips, 15, passed peacefully in his sleep at home in New Ipswich on July 12, 2025. He leaves behind his loving parents, Chris and Debbie, as well as his brother Chuck, 17; sister, Pippa, 12; and two corgis, Nash and Dozer.

Isaac was born February 11, 2010, at Monadnock Community Hospital in Peterborough, NH. He was a sweet boy with big, squishy cheeks and a huge smile. As a young child, he loved to play outside in his sandbox, ride his bike and scooter, play with his many trucks and Matchbox cars, or just putter around outside exploring. As he grew, he developed a love for sports and played soccer, basketball, and baseball. After his cancer diagnosis and surgeries limited his mobility, he often played on his x-box or Pokémon Go on his phone, ordered Pokémon cards or snacks on Amazon in the middle of the night when he couldn't sleep, and spent his hours outside the hospital watching numerous medical shows. He also loved building anything, but especially Legos, and being read to, with Harry Potter being a top pick, especially during hospital stays.

Isaac was an old soul and was always comfortable just being himself. He loved the "ladies" and as a toddler, if we couldn't find him at the playground, we just had to look around for the older girls and it never failed that one of them would be carrying him around. One of his elementary teachers once said that he was the only boy who didn't complain about being paired up with the girls for group work, and even as a freshman in high school, he'd roll up in his wheelchair to the girls at lunch and ask if they had any snacks for him. Isaac was a loyal friend and maintained a friendship with his two best friends from his preschool days at the Greeley School, Evelynn and Corbin, and became close friends with Emma, who viewed him as a brother and became close to the rest of his family as well. He was also close to his sister, Pippa, and could often be found playing dolls with her in exchange for playing whatever game he wanted after. He also enjoyed watching and cheering (or trash talking) his older brother, Chuck, at various sporting events.

Isaac loved those close to him and loved them hard. He had a spicy personality and was always quick with an insult, but usually, if you were being insulted by Isaac, it meant he loved you. He also fought hard – whether that meant throwing a tape measure at his brother's head for changing the rules of a game and hitting him just right to require stitches, standing up for a friend he felt needed protecting, and especially, in fighting to get healthy, always with little to no complaint. Isaac was so resilient, involved in his treatment plan from the very start, so smart, and in some ways, more mature than many with how he handled what life threw at him.

Isaac's diagnosis came when he was 11 years old, after he had developed a limp during baseball season of 2021 and was doing physical therapy in attempt to loosen his tight leg muscles; when little changed after months of therapy, an x-ray and MRI of his back were taken, leading to the discovery of a tumor in his abdomen that we later learned was the size of a small melon and wrapping around his spine. He was referred to Dartmouth Health Medical Center's CHaD in Lebanon, NH, where he had numerous surgeries, chemotherapy, and photon radiation. He was declared NED (no evidence of disease) in April of 2022, but just over a year later, his quarterly scans showed new tumor growth. In late summer of 2023, he was referred to Mass General Hospital and a new team of doctors to do proton radiation and an additional radical surgery was suggested. It involved fully severing the nerves to his right leg, removing part of his pelvis and lower vertebrae to ensure clear margins, and relocating his right fibula to where his pelvis had been to provide a connection from the spine to pelvis. It was wild and crazy, but the hope was to give him more time, so we moved forward with it and surgery took place in November of 2023. Recovery wasn't easy and included a three-month hospital stay, a wound vac and IV antibiotics going home with him, and some impressive scars, but Isaac being Isaac rocked the difficult recovery, usually with a smile on his face or silly, inappropriate comment being said.

Unfortunately, due to the nature of synovial sarcoma, the surgery didn't buy him as much time as we had hoped. In February of 2025, about a year after he came home from the hospital and just four months after a round of clear scans, we learned that Isaac had new tumor growth in eight different locations throughout his abdomen and there was little we could do for him without causing more harm. It was estimated that he had about four months based on how aggressively the new growth had appeared. He amazingly held on for five months, with many ups and downs keeping us on our toes.

Isaac and our family were well loved and well cared for by his teams of doctors, nurses, therapists, social workers, and others at both hospitals, as well as by our VNA nurse and hospice nurse. Isaac was an easy patient to care for, complaining very little about the unfair hand he was dealt. At follow-up appointments, his exam rooms often felt like a clown car where members of his care team who didn't necessarily need to see him still popped in to say hello. And even after transferring to Mass General, our favorite PA from Dartmouth regularly checked in with us.

We were also well loved and well cared for by our community, from the huge Go Gold Night event held in January 2024, the gold bows hanging and painted all around town, the numerous raffles and donations for Isaac's Bucket list organized by the Mascenic Boosters, the Food Truck Night organized by the New Ipswich Recreation Department, to the gold ribbon pins worn by all of the baseball and softball teams in town, and so many more large and small signs of support. The staff at Boynton Middle School and the Mascenic School District went above and beyond in supporting the family, including donating enough hours for his mother to remain home with him for his last months, and amazing substitute teachers stepped into her role (especially Annette Leel and Samantha Bartleson for the many days they filled in!). The love was felt, and we could not have made it through this journey alone.

Isaac was paired up with the Fitchburg State University Men's Ice Hockey team through Team IMPACT and loved being a part of the team through their journey to winning the division championship. This team, along with so many others, became integral parts of our lives and we would never have met any of them without his diagnosis.

Isaac's last months were a mix of tears about what was to come, belly laughs at the fun moments we had together as a family, and special moments together trying to enjoy the little things, the glimmers of happiness we sometimes have to search for on hard days. As a family, we tried hard to fulfill his bucket list items but were limited in our ability due to how quickly his cancer progressed. We are so proud of the son we raised and the role we had in caring for him. It was an honor to be his parents.

Isaac's extended family includes grandparents Claire and Bruce Heck of Wilton, NH; grandparents Kent Bushaw and Debra McIntyre of Lyndeborough, NH and New Kent, VA; and grandparents Laura Phillips and the late C. Richard Phillips of Greenville, NH; great-grandmother Elaine Goddard of Milford, NH; uncle Steven (Amber) Heck and cousin Josie of Sevierville, TN; aunt Andrea Heck of Salem, NH; aunt Sarah McGovern and John McGovern and cousins Michael (Amber) Phillips and Jaylin, Ethan, and Kianah McGovern of New Ipswich, NH; aunt Jenn (Alan) Merrill and cousin Asher of Stoddard, NH.

Calling hours will be held at Hope Fellowship in Jaffrey, NH, on Wednesday, July 23, from 5pm-8pm. Come as you are or wear purple in honor of Isaac! A celebration of life and private burial will be scheduled at later dates. The family plans to create a memorial scholarship for local students entering the medical field and will accept donations once that is established.

In lieu of flowers, donations can also be made to one of the following organizations: the Mascenic Booster Club in New Ipswich, NH, "In honor of Isaac" through Venmo @Mascenic-Boosters or mailed to 188 Appleton Road, New Ipswich, NH 03071; David's House in Lebanon, NH; or directed to the "Pediatric Oncology Fund for Families at Massachusetts General Hospital" online at https://giving.massgeneral.org/donate or mailed to Massachusetts General Hospital Development Office, 125 Nashua Street, Suite 540, Boston, MA 02114.

To leave a memory or to share a condolence with Isaac's family, please visit cournoyerfh.com