Alex Arrieta, 10, succumbs to cancer

Alex Arrieta, a fifth-grader at Hilton Head Island School for the Creative Arts who was known for his ever-present smile and his gentle heart, died early Wednesday morning at MUSC Children’s Hospital in Charleston.

“Alex is no longer suffering, around 2 a.m. this morning, (his grandmother) welcomed him to heaven. He is now a happy, healthy boy,” a family member posted on the Alex “Smiles” Arrieta Facebook page Wednesday morning. “He beat cancer. He is free. We, his family, are beyond heartbroken.” The page is followed by more than 2,000 community members who were hoping for a different outcome.

Alex, 10, was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia in February 2015. After a months-long hospital stay in Savannah and several rounds of chemotherapy, he was in remission until this past January when the leukemia returned.

Alex and his parents, Brandon and Caroline Arrieta of Hilton Head, have been at MUSC since January.

Additional counselors will be available for students at Hilton Head Island School for the Creative Arts today, according to Beaufort County School District spokesman Jim Foster.

To offer condolences to the Arrieta family, comment on this thread or go to the Alex “Smiles” Arrieta Facebook page. Donations can be made to Alex Arrieta's GoFundMe account.

A more complete story will be posted later today.

This story was originally published April 27, 2016 at 8:52 AM with the headline "Alex Arrieta, 10, succumbs to cancer."