The HEADStrong Association was founded from the hospital bed to support patients' families so they can focus on treatment.
Ten years ago, Nick Colleluori was bedridden and had no strength to do anything. He can't go back to college, where he hopes to finish school so he can work for a nonprofit. Then a year later, he died of blood cancer on November 28, 2006, he fought the disease within a year. But what he did on his deathbed before he died bore fruit ten years later.
He knows which family has a loved one with cancer, how hard they have to fight. He hopes to help these families deal with the basic problems of everyday life. His parents and he tried many different treatments. When he was being treated in the National Institutes of Health's experimental nursing home, his parents were forced to rent a small room in Washington so they could stay by his side at all times.
“I wish my life could benefit others”
In a Washington Post article, he said: “Families facing cancer have to go through challenges that I want them to support along the way.” “It was 14 months from the time of illness to Nick's death, during which time he founded an association that he considers to be a financial and emotional support for cancer patients and patients. their family." He begged his mother, Cheryl, to promise to continue doing this work after he died.
“Nick took my hand and begged me: 'Promise me, will you continue this work so that my life can be useful to others?' And this promise is what drives me to try, Nick thought. a lot to other people. Nick never asks: 'Why are you sick?' Nick always says, 'Let's help others!'”
Cheryl Colleluori promised and kept her promise to her son, she quit her job and started helping the HEADStrong association that Nick had created. She told the Washington Post: “To date, the association has raised $9 million to help 13,572 families in a variety of ways. Last September, American player Chris Hogan promised the association $15 each time he shot a ball this season.”
“The day we will meet, Nick will laugh.”
He wrote in the article: “The purpose is to support the needs that until now have not or have been little to help families in difficulty, when their loved one has cancer.” The association also provides homes for families with patients in Philadelphia. This happened when the Colleluori family met a couple from afar who had to sleep in their car in the hospital parking lot while their daughter was being treated. The couple asked Ms. Colleluori if there was a place nearby to wash their clothes. At that time, the Colleluori family invited them home to bathe and wash their clothes. Now, the association has a dedicated home for families to stay and they hope to have a second home. Cheryl Colleluori continued: “These families have one thing in common: their child or loved one is fighting an illness. We do everything in our power to save them. These families just want to go home. They quit their jobs to come here in the hope that their loved ones will be healed. And we help them ease the process.”
The association hopes to buy a large house that can accommodate 14 people. Cheryl Colleluori is determined to carry out the work that her children leave behind: “What was once seen as Nick's career path is now Nick's legacy. I know the day we meet again, Nick will have a big smile on his face and be proud of what we've done."