By MISSION VIEJO – One of the hardest parts about being a teacher is learning that a student you have watched venture out into the world is suddenly and irrevocably taken from it.
For much of the 2023-24 school year, a high point of my day came when journalism student Porter Aydelotte would steer his wheelchair into the doorway of my office at the Daily Forty-Niner, now the Long Beach Current.
He would always say hello and ask how I was doing. Sometimes, he would discuss a Marvel movie he saw or some aspect of politics or pop culture.
Porter wrote for the Forty-Niner and quickly became a newsroom fixture with his easy smile, solicitous nature and pointed wit.
Porter needed a wheelchair to get to class – or to go anywhere – due to a condition called Duchenne muscular dystrophy. He had two rods in his back and was often in pain.
His best friend, Alex Bloom, was always with him. The two would take the bus from Mission Viejo to Long Beach State three days a week before Bloom started driving him in a specially outfitted Toyota Sienna.
Bloom walked across the stage with Porter at his May graduation at Angel Stadium. Bloom said Porter, a longtime movie buff, was headed towards a film major but then “got a taste of the newsroom … He loved journalism, and he loved stories. He was curious; he wanted answers.”
Porter Aydelotte with Journalism and Public Relations faculty members Jennifer Newton, Gary Metzker and Barbara Kingsley-Wilson on graduation day 2024 at Angels Stadium. Photo credit: Barbara Kingsley-Wilson
Recently, Bloom let us know that Porter had died on Sept. 10 at age 26 from complications from muscular dystrophy.
At his Mission Viejo service on Sept. 28, a memorial table was adorned with anime stickers, comic books, his five degrees from Saddleback College and his 2024 Long Beach State diploma. It also featured one of his favorite sayings – “I love sarcasm; it’s like punching people in the face, but with words.”
Family members and friends talked about how Porter loved science – one of his favorite Forty-Niner reporting projects was a story on the Shark Lab. He connected with a larger community through video games, and he just kept going.
“No matter what he was going through, Porter was a beacon of positive energy,” Todd Keneley, Porter’s caregiver through high school, said at Porter’s service. “He had an infectious smile and a certain gleam in his eye.”
Keneley said being with Porter taught him to keep things in perspective. With a gleam in his own eye, he added that he also held the memory of “several stress fractures in my foot” from Porter’s wheelchair rolling over it.
Porter’s condition crept up on him when he was a child. He did not use a wheelchair until age 11.
His mother, Keri Cranmer, joked that she thought Porter was “uncoordinated” when he struggled to peddle a bike. As his prognosis became clear, doctors told the family that Porter would likely not live to adulthood.
“At first, they told us you’ll be lucky if he makes it to his late teens, then he made it through that, then they said he wouldn’t make it to early 20s,” Cranmer said. “Porter just kept beating the odds. This [Porter’s death] was definitely not in my plan.”
As his physical condition worsened, Porter suffered bouts of depression, Cranmer said. He also had three younger brothers who relied on him.
“He could have been a lot more depressed; he could have sunk into himself, but he had to help somebody else. He was everyone’s shrink, even though he gave terrible advice! But he was needed,” Cranmer said.
Porter’s aid and best friend, Alex Bloom, writes a goodbye message at Porter’s funeral in Salem, Utah. Photo credit: Family photo
Porter told family he was afraid of death, but he also joked that he wanted a Viking funeral — buried on a ship and carried off to Valhalla.
Porter made it to graduation but died before his mother and stepfather could finish enlarging the bedroom in their Mission Viejo home with a lift to get him out of his chair.
Although Porter did not receive a Viking funeral, over 300 people attended two memorial services in his honor — one in Utah and one in Southern California, where his mother, stepfather and brothers live.
Among the mourners, friends and family wrote goodbye messages and placed comics and anime stickers on his coffin. He was buried in his family’s plot in Utah.
The family just started a $1,000 scholarship fund at Porter’s high school.
On Sept. 28, an overflow crowd, including several members of the student newsroom, filled a Mission Viejo church. Most wore Marvel comics t-shirts or Star Wars ties and sang “Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing” as they said goodbye to their brother, student, son and friend.
One good thing about being a teacher, even in times like this, is that one gets to learn from every student. Porter will inspire me to give full attention to the student who stops in my doorway, stay curious even when it’s hard and just keep going.
