Florida Parents Raise Money to Send 11-Year-Old Son's Ashes to the Moon

Florida parents Cori and Scott Gallagher are raising funds to send their son's ashes to the moon and fulfill his dreams of flying into outer space. The Gallaghers tragically lost Matthew, 11, on May 18, 2022, after his mother found him unresponsive one night.

A few weeks after the death, Cori found out about the Celestis Memorial Spaceflights, which arrange for families to send the ashes of their loved ones into space. The company was established in the 1990s, but they will have a maiden spaceflight, dubbed Destiny Flight, for "creating a permanent memorial on a distant, but constantly viewable world" on the moon.

Destiny Flight will launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida, in 2023, but it will be a costly space trip. However, Cori and Scott are making it their goal to secure a spot for their son, who became interested in space flights when he was five years old, per Fox 13 Tampa Bay.

"I love you to the moon and back!"

The mother said Matthew was an astronomy whiz and could talk endlessly about the moon and its different phases to anyone. He had a space-themed bedroom and asked for space-themed gifts for birthdays and Christmases.

There were lots of information about space that Matthew knew, and he could even stump his science teachers. Thus, the boy had set his sights on becoming an astronaut at such an early age.

Cori told WTSP that Matthew and his grandfather visited the Kennedy Space Center every summer using season passes. He had a slot at the space summer camp this year.

One time he was at the space center, the boy and his grandfather spent lunch with an actual astronaut.

"I think he probably talked the astronaut's ear off," the mother said. "Because he just had so many questions and wanted to know so much information."

The boy was also crazy about Tesla, SpaceX, and its owner, Elon Musk. Two months before he passed away, Matthew asked his parents for a Tesla dealership as his birthday gift.

Cori and Scott said that the lunar flight was also a special pick because their son loves to say, "I love you to the moon and back" to his parents. If they can buy a Destiny flight, then they won't only be making their son's dreams come true; Cori and Scott could look up to the moon and know that Matthew is there.

Matthew Gallagher's fundraiser

The family's GoFundMe page hopes to raise $14,000 for Matthew's ashes, and they received donors from the military and the U.S. Marines, where Scott used to serve. The Gallaghers have achieved their goals with over 330 donors as of press time.

Celestis CEO and co-founder Charles Chafe also found out about the fundraiser and said that the company would lend support to the family in making this "memorial spaceflight a reality."

Matthew is also survived by Savannah, his younger sister.