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NEWPORT, Ohio (WTAP) - Travis Flores was a native of the Mid-Ohio Valley who grew up in Newport, Ohio. Throughout his life, Travis worked ceaselessly in many charitable endeavors while also following his dreams.

Travis was known for his involvement in many charitable endeavors, especially in his efforts to spread awareness about cystic fibrosis, which he himself was diagnosed with from a young age, Travis has impacted many throughout his life his charitable work and talent for public speaking, while also persevering and refusing to give up during his own health struggles.

From a young age Travis Flores had always had a heart for helping others.

Growing up as a rambunctious and energetic child in Newport, Travis grew up with big dreams... all according to his mother, Teresa.

“...Always wanted to do big things. He always talked about and dreamed about doing big things, big movies, all kinds of fun stuff. He wanted to make it big.

When Travis was four months old, he was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis, a genetic condition that impairs the normal clearance of mucus from the lungs. At the time of his diagnosis, his parents were told that he would only have five years to live.

“It was his goal, even at that young age to make it longer, and he did 33 years, he made it a lot longer, but he had a drive to accomplish as much as he could in this short life, he knew he was going to live.”

In keeping with the perseverance that his parents instilled in him, Travis grew up with the motto of never giving up on his dreams.

“...and we installed that in Travis and the whole family lived it, and we all encouraged him. You know, there’s nothing you can’t do if you put your mind to it. He raced go-karts in spite of his lung condition. He had IVs in his arm, a pick line, and he still raced go karts.”

This motto of never giving up followed him throughout his life. Teresa says that when Travis was around five or six years old that he wanted to use his wish from Make a Wish to build a stage in the backyard, but fate and his thoughtful mother had other ideas...

“I said no, we’re not going to do a stage in our backyard. You need to do something that you can take with you for your life, and we were driving back from a hospital appointment, and he says ‘I’d like to get my book published. How can we do that?,’ and I said very good idea. I’ll ask Make a Wish "

Travis’ book, ‘The Spider Who Never Gave Up’ acted as his steppingstone into the world of philanthropy.

“He published a children’s book at the age of he wrote it at the age of about six or seven, and it was published by the time he turned 13.”

From this point Travis took on various public speaking events where he would speak on the golden rule, bullying, and eventually beginning his work in raising money for different charities like Make a Wish as well as helping to champion various causes such as the Battle Against Cystic Fibrosis games.

He would go and speak to the teams before the games and pumped them up and explained to him that when you get out there, it’s not just about the game, it’s about the cause and the reason that you’re really here, so don’t forget that.”

Travis graduated from Frontier High School and Washington State Community College in the same week with a two-year degree.

He then went to New York, graduated with a bachelor’s degree, and moved on to New York University, where he got a master’s degree in fundraising and philanthropy at the age of 22, which meant that he was the youngest in that graduating class.

After graduation, Travis made the big move to follow his dreams.

“He graduated from college and moved to California to follow his dream and work in the field that he had graduated in, and he also wanted to act and write and do all kinds of stuff.”

After his arrival in California Travis found that he needed a double lung transplant. After the transplant, his new lungs went into rejection. Due to this, Travis received a second and eventually a third transplant after his attempts at convincing doctors across the country to complete the third. Before he was told he would receive his third lung transplant Travis was surprised by the Make a Wish in Columbus with the Travis Flores Legacy Award.

“We knew it was his 15-year anniversary. We did not know that they were presenting him with his first ever Travis Flores Legacy Award that now Make a Wish in Columbus presents to a Make a Wish child every year. It was very special this year because his brothers got to hand it to the recipient just days before Travis passed away.”

Despite the struggles with his health, Travis continued to follow his dreams of acting, writing, and producing while also remaining active as a public speaker and an advocate for many charities and organizations, even a couple that he made himself such as the Strengthline Foundation, which helps to give computers and electronics to chronically ill children and young adults in the hospital to help them communicate with their families outside of the hospital, along with allowing them the ability to entertain themselves as well. Teresa says that this foundation will continue to be cared for and isn’t going anywhere.

“...the Strengthline Foundation is not going to go away. We’re going to pass the torch, pass the throne, whatever you want to call it, pass the pen to our youngest son, Brandon, who is doing well, and he wants to take the foundation and continue it, and he will mostly focus on Make a Wish. Recently he raised $18,000 in one week for makeover for the Make a wish gala which was amazing, and my older son, Justin, he is on one of the advisory boards for Make a Wish.”

Travis also started the #YellowHeartSquad, a movement where people can uplift each other and spread positivity for those who may need it.

Teresa says that she is thankful for all of Travis’s medical team for their care during his life, and for taking such good care of him,

“He considered the hospital staff and his family because he was in there so often, so we got to know a lot of them, and I was comfortable knowing that he had them. When he came out of transplant, it wasn’t just strangers, it was his staff, and they were there for him, and they got him through it and then we, you know, we got him home and he continued to do his motivational speaking and stuff in between transplants.”

Teresa continued on to say that she is also thankful for the Mid-Ohio Valley for supporting him throughout all these years as well.

“I’d like to say thank you, especially to the mid-Ohio Valley, for all their love and support over the years, and to the entire nation and world for their love and support for Travis. Without all the support that everybody gave to him and to us through the years, I don’t think he would have been able to fight as hard as he did or push as hard as he did.”

Teresa says that if anybody were to take away any lessons from Travis’ life the main one would be to never give up, a lesson that he carried with him his whole life.

“I would want people to take away from all the stuff that he’s done in his life, and never give up on their hopes and dreams. To the end, that was what he wanted people to do and that’s what he fought for.”

Thank you, Travis, for sharing your talents, passions, and life with us... Thank you for helping to make the world a better place.

Teresa says that anyone and everyone from the community is welcome to join family and friends of Travis for his celebration of life on Saturday, July 13 at the Newport Elementary School from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Those in attendance are going to enjoy fun and crazy stories of their interactions with Travis while celebrating his life and everything he did.

If you would like to learn more about Travis’ life along with his many accomplishments, you can head to his website here. You can learn more about Travis’ Strengthline Foundation here, and you can join the #YellowHeartSquad here.

Thank you, Travis, you will forever live on in the many impacts that you have made with your talents, motivation, perseverance, and of course the love you had for others.