Four Diamonds young adult Nick's cancer diagnosis marked a pivotal moment in his life when he was just 7 years old. Because of the support he received from organizations like Four Diamonds, Penn State THON™ and Camp Can Do, he is now committed to giving back to his community.
Nick’s Journey with Cancer Begins
As a child, Nick was always active and participating in sports. During the summer of 2006, when his health didn’t improve after being diagnosed with bronchitis, his mom knew something was wrong. Nick’s pediatrician recommended a chest x-ray, where they discovered an eight-inch tumor wrapped around his throat.
Nick was immediately airlifted to Penn State Health Children's Hospital, where he was diagnosed with lymphoblastic lymphoma. The next day, he had surgery to remove the tumor and began chemotherapy.
THON’s Impact on Nick
Nick has attended THON every year since 2007. First, he attended as a Four Diamonds family. Then, in college as a student at Penn State, where he volunteered on a committee and as a chair for his fraternity. Nick loved THON as a child, and he always says his favorite memory of THON is the next one he has yet to make.
“THON has done so much for me and my family, so volunteering felt like a way of giving back.” – Nick
For Nick and many other families, their connection to THON isn’t just one weekend. Their relationships are built throughout the year. Nick’s organization would attend both his and his brother’s basketball games and visit their lake house with his family.
As Nick grew with the organization, he realized the significance THON has for so many families and the scope of how many organizations support THON and their families. As a committee member, Nick was able to see first-hand how THON impacted families and students in a variety of ways.
For THON 2021, Nick, now a senior, was on the executive committee as the Dancer Relations Director. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, this THON weekend looked different than the typical weekend. Dancers, committees and supporters could not gather in the Bryce Jordan Center and were dancing all over campus. That year, THON raised over $10 million, despite the challenges to hosting the event. Nick couldn’t believe how the THON community united to continue the fight to conquer childhood cancer.
Four Diamonds Internship
After graduating college with a degree in Health Policy and Administration, Nick decided to take a gap year to give back to his community while gaining work experience before attending graduate school. Fortunately, Four Diamonds has a yearlong post-graduate internship, which meant Nick could continue to be involved in the organizations that made such a difference in his family’s lives.
Like THON, Nick connected with the mission of Four Diamonds, but this time in a different way. His role was in family and volunteer engagement, allowing him to directly help families by interacting with them for a variety of events and speaking engagements. One of his primary projects was creating webinars about music therapy, social work and other psychosocial programs to connect volunteers with Four Diamonds' mission. He would interview different specialty care providers to show volunteers first-hand accounts of their impact.
“My diagnosis has made me want to give back.” – Nick
Nick was happy to help Four Diamonds in any way that he could. As a former Four Diamonds child, he truly appreciated the work that Four Diamonds did for their families and others, but didn’t fully understand the scope of their impact. As an intern, Nick saw the full picture of the work and realized the compassion of the staff and their desire to help. They were welcoming and motivated to help families like his, and Nick was excited to be a part of conquering childhood cancer in another way.
Camp Can Do Director
In 2008, Nick attended Camp Can Do, a camp designed for kids diagnosed with cancer, for the first time when he was 9 years old. He felt a little unsure about what to expect, but soon after arriving, he settled into camp life. At Camp Can Do, Nick wasn’t a cancer patient; he was simply a camper.
Nick has attended Camp Can Do every summer since that first visit in 2008. After attending camp as a camper, he started as a leadership trainee in 2018 and became a counselor in 2020. For the last two years, Nick has served as the Leadership Training Director. Nick loves giving back to this community that meant so much to him as a child and young adult.
As a camper, Nick had an incredible experience and believes camp played a role in saving his life. Even during treatment, Nick was able to attend camp and continue being a kid. His counselors were his role models, and he built real connections with people going through similar experiences. He keeps in touch with some of his fellow campers and is now a counselor alongside others. He always knew he had camp to look forward to every summer.
“At Camp Can Do, everybody knows what you’re going through. Everybody gets it. I realized I could be silly, be myself and just be with everyone. Like THON, my favorite camp memory is always the next one.” – Nick
In the past, Camp Can Do would have around 40 to 50 campers. Since the pandemic, they only see around 10 to 20 campers. Nick is excited to see camp grow and is motivated to spread the word about camp.
Camp Can Do is created for kids with cancer. Every detail and activity are planned with the campers in mind. Counselors and directors connect with each camper and make them feel seen and cared for. At Camp Can Do, campers are surrounded by people who know what they are going through. All the campers get it, and most of the counselors do too. There is nothing to be embarrassed about or scared of because at camp, campers are just kids.
A Career Rooted in Helping Others
After completing the internship, Nick returned to school for his master's degree and now works at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia as an administrative fellow. Because practitioners can only do as much as the policy will allow them to do, Nick wants to help write the policies so that the clinicians are in the position to care for their patients properly.
“My goal is to help others with my career.” – Nick
To learn more about how Four Diamonds helps families like Nick's while facing childhood cancer, click here.