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TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) -- Fuller Goldsmith knew his life's arc well before he even began school. During hours waiting out chemotherapy treatments at Children's of Alabama hospital, the Tuscaloosa native grew bored watching Disney Channel and cartoons, and turned instead to Food Network shows.
He won the "Chopped Junior" competition, competed on "Top Chef Jr.," and got to meet hero Guy Fieri and other celebrities. He was written about in People, Entertainment Weekly and other publications.
"I knew I wanted to cook for the rest of my life before I went (to TV)," he said, in a 2017 interview with The Tuscaloosa News, during his run on the show "Top Chef Jr."
"I just like to cook. Simple as that."
Though he'd fought back acute lymphoblastic leukemia three times since the age of 3, Fuller succumbed to the disease Tuesday, days short of his 18th birthday.
Fuller was found to be suffering another tumor late last winter, and had been undergoing radiation and chemotherapy treatments, but wasn't responding as he had in the past.
"We knew what the outcome was going to be, but we definitely didn't think it was going to be yesterday," his father, Scott Goldsmith, said Wednesday. "Monday he was up and moving about, building Legos, and watching all the football games. Yesterday morning, he was running a fever and struggling to breathe.”