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Eun joo Yoon

Eun-joo Yoon was a Korean American registered nurse who lived in Evanston, Illinois, with her husband, Sung-ho Yoon, and their children, Travis and Hana. Precise and observant, she cared for her family through practical action as well as conversation. After Travis was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in December 2024, she participated in his treatment planning and became his primary caregiver during treatment in Evanston. She also formed a lasting family relationship with Travis’s Juilliard roommate, Ezra Cruz.

Nursing and Caregiving

Eun-joo had made juk for Travis during childhood illnesses. Her slow-cooked rice porridge, scented with ginger and sesame oil, was familiar to him and one of the few foods he could tolerate when he became ill. She continued to prepare it during his treatment and made it daily in his final months at home. During Travis’s induction treatment in New York, Soon-ja Yoon brought a separate batch made from her own recipe.

When Travis was hospitalized at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital in late December 2024, Eun-joo’s clinical knowledge allowed her to understand his test results and treatment plan. She took notes, asked the oncology team detailed questions, and remained involved through his six-week course of induction chemotherapy. Knowing what the numbers meant did not make it easier for her to watch her son endure treatment.

After the induction phase, Travis transferred to Northwestern Memorial Hospital for consolidation treatment closer to the family home. Eun-joo coordinated directly with the Northwestern oncology team and served as his primary caregiver. As the disease relapsed and then resisted second-line treatment, her nursing experience made its progression legible to her even while she continued the daily work of caring for Travis.

Travis died in August 2025 after his leukemia relapsed, second-line treatment failed, and the disease became refractory. When the doctors explained the treatment failure, Travis clung to Eun-joo and Ezra and begged his mother in Korean to let him go home because he did not want to die in the hospital. He also worried about what the family would have to clean up afterward. Eun-joo told him not to think about that for even a second. The family honored his request, and Travis died at home with them and Ezra present.

Main article: Death of Travis Yoon (2025)

Family

Sung-ho Yoon

Sung-ho was Eun-joo’s husband and the father of Travis and Hana. He took emergency leave during Travis’s initial hospitalization and shared the family’s medical and household responsibilities during treatment. Eun-joo handled much of the clinical advocacy while Sung-ho managed insurance, housing, and school paperwork. When Eun-joo broke down in a hospital waiting room at two in the morning, Sung-ho held her; their different responses to Travis’s illness did not end their practical or emotional care for each other.

Travis Yoon

Main article: Travis Yoon (Battle with ALL)

Eun-joo traveled from Evanston after Travis’s diagnosis and remained involved throughout his treatment in New York and Illinois. Her nursing experience supported her advocacy and care coordination but also gave her a detailed understanding of the disease’s progression.

Hana Yoon

Hana was Eun-joo and Sung-ho’s younger child. She was seventeen when Travis died. Eun-joo and Sung-ho continued to care for Hana while the household was consumed by Travis’s treatment and, afterward, by his loss.

Relationship with Ezra Cruz

Main article: Ezra Cruz and Yoon Family

Eun-joo first met Ezra at about six in the morning during Travis’s hospitalization in New York. She found him asleep in a chair beside Travis’s bed, his hand near her son’s on the mattress, his trumpet case under the chair, and a music theory textbook open on the tray table. He had stayed through the nights and learned Travis’s medicines and monitor alarms. She greeted him with “You must be Ezra,” and told him, “I know. Thank you.”

Eun-joo included Ezra in medical updates and made space for him and Travis to spend time alone. She noticed the blue fleece Ezra had insisted on keeping with Travis and how Travis’s vital signs steadied when Ezra was with him. During Ezra’s visits to Evanston, she prepared a room and fed him without ceremony; by summer, he was part of the household’s daily routines and was Travis’s partner. Eun-joo did not require either young man to explain the relationship before making room for it.

Eun-joo maintained contact with Ezra after Travis’s death. He showed her, Sung-ho, Hana, and Soon-ja the design of his hidden-‘’T’’ memorial tattoo and waited for their blessing before getting it. When Ezra arranged the posthumous release of Travis’s ‘’이어받은 선율’’ through the Fifth Bar Collective, she called him and thanked him; the call was brief, with a pause before her thanks. She later attended his wedding to Nina Cruz with Sung-ho and Hana.

Memorable Quotes

“You must be Ezra.”

(Spoken when Eun-joo met Ezra during Travis’s hospitalization.)

“I know. Thank you.”

(Spoken to Ezra during the same meeting.)

Characters Supporting Characters Living Characters Korean American Characters Yoon Family Medical Professionals Nurses