Today we’d like to introduce you to Nick Price. Them and their team share their story with us below:
Nick Price currently attends the College of Charleston. He was diagnosed with an exophytic pontine glioma brain tumor at age 15 on January 29, 2015. This is a tumor on the brain stem that was growing into the 4th ventricle of his brain. This is a very complex and hard-to-reach tumor in the pons area of the brain stem. The family traveled the country meeting with several different facilities and neurosurgeons to find someone who could remove the tumor without causing severe neurological deficits or worse.
This part of the brain controls several vital functions of the body including voice, eyes, arms, legs, swallowing, and breathing. The family chose Dr. Sanai and Spetzler at Barrow Neurological in Phoenix, AZ. These two world-renowned neurosurgeons specialize in brain stem tumors and partnered up to perform Nick’s surgery. Nick had two surgeries – two days apart in mid-June to remove the tumor that is now 100% gone.
It took him months to fully recover and now Nick is on a mission to help others that have been diagnosed with cancer. He has created and developed a nonprofit organization called the Nick Price Foundation that has helped families across the country by raising and donating more than $200,000 over a 4-year time span.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Definitely not. After my surgery I had lost 20 lbs of muscle from not being able to eat, I was extremely hypersensitive to noise and touch due to brain swelling, and the right side of my face was completely paralyzed. It took many months to gain that weight back and to this day I still have a little bit of facial paralysis but people who do not know me can’t even tell I have any left.
Within the foundation, fundraising without full-time staff can be exceedingly difficult. We have to do our best to organize temporary teams to throw big fundraisers every couple of years rather than having many different small ones. After years of success, COVID hits, and businesses and personal bank accounts take a huge hit.
This means that many people just simply do not have the funds to donate and we were unable to hold our events because they were all in person. To avoid this, we started doing virtual fundraisers and raised thousands by selling donated pieces of art online via an auction!
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
The Nick Price Foundation is a 501c3 non-profit that financially and emotionally supports families battling cancer. We have a grant application process through our website where people tell us their needs (whether that is equipment, salary payments, a break from work, hotel points, food, plane tickets, etc) and we donate to them.
What makes this foundation special is that it is run by a family that has experienced first-hand just how awful cancer can be from all angles and the impact it can have on a family and those around them. We have a deeper understanding of what people who reach out to us go through that can really push them to never, ever give up.
What has been the most important lesson you’ve learned along your journey?
Never give up and do not sweat the small stuff.
Contact Info:
- Email: nick@nickpricefoundation.org
- Website: www.nickpricefoundation.org
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nickpricefoundation/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nickpricefoundation/
