From cheering at baseball games with her dad, to exploring the outdoors, to giggling with her younger brothers, Avery and Tennin, and standing faithfully beside her mom, Erynn, as her shadow and right-hand girl, Kharma filled her days with joy, kindness, and a generosity that touched everyone she met. In 2019, just a week after a family road trip through Yosemite, Yellowstone, and Glacier National Parks, Kharma developed a fever and tachycardia (elevated heart rate) after experiencing three weeks of cough, left rib pain and shortness of breath. X-rays revealed masses in her lungs, and she was rushed by life-flight to Portland. Doctors diagnosed her with NUT carcinoma—a rare, aggressive cancer that is often hard to detect and has no known cure.

After 21 days in the hospital, she passed away in her parents’ arms on August 21, 2019, at just 11 years and 11 months old.

Losing Kharma was devastating for her family. For her dad Tim, a lifelong cross-country runner and a pharmacist at Asante, returning to running became a way to carry his grief—and his daughter’s memory—forward. On September 13, 2025, Tim will take on the Pine to Palm 100—a grueling 100-mile endurance race through southern Oregon’s Siskiyou Mountains. Over 34 hours, he will climb 20,000 feet in elevation, push through exhaustion, and run through the night—all in honor of Kharma’s 18th birthday.

During Kharma’s hospitalization in Portland, the Smiths stayed at the Ronald McDonald House. It was a lifeline—giving them a place to rest, regroup, and focus on Kharma without the added burden of hotel costs or logistics. Inspired by that experience, Tim is dedicating his race to raising funds for The Family House expansion at Asante Three Rivers Medical Center in Grants Pass. Like the Ronald McDonald House, The Family House provides a safe, affordable place for patients and families to stay while receiving care, right here in our community.

Since 2008, The Family House has been a pillar of support for countless families facing medical challenges. A plan is ready to double the size of The Family House, providing comfortable rooms, an updated kitchen, new laundry facilities, community spaces and RV spots with full hookups. The Family House exists because of generous donors and we need your help to make these plans a reality.

Through every mile, Tim will carry Kharma’s memory and the hope that no family in southern Oregon will face serious illness without the support they need.