9/28 – Dominic

The first time I ever met Dominic, it was in the kitchen at the Ronald McDonald House at breakfast time. There weren’t many people in the kitchen and when I walked in with Tillery in the stroller with a helmet on her head, I heard a boy’s voice say “She’s gorgeous!”. I always remember this because it touched my heart that he saw past Tillery’s helmet and tubies and just saw her for the cute kid she is. As the next few months went by, I got to know Dominic and his family better. They became a popular crew at the RMH and the hospital as his mother was like the house mom, his dad was everybody’s buddy, his sister was a sweet young lady we all talked with, and Dominic’s personality earned him the nickname “The Mayor”.

Dominic was diagnosed with HLH, a rare form of cancer that has a research facility based at Cincinnati Children’s. His family came from Florida to Ohio in the winter in an attempt to save their son’s life through a bone marrow transplant. In addition to all the scary long-term possibilities with HLH, a BMT had its own long list of potential side effects. The scariest possibility was graft vs host disease (GVHD), which became a battle for Dominic soon after his transplant. He spent many months in and out of the hospital. Much of his time was spent in isolation and he occupied himself by building elaborate things out of Legos and watching his favorite wrestlers on TV. His family was always optimistic and focused on a full healing, however Dominic’s healing came in a different form than they had hoped. On October 15, 2015, Dominic moved from his earthly life to his heavenly one.

I’ll always remember an encounter I had with Dominic’s dad the night before he passed away. I had gone to the hospital chapel to pray for Dominic and his family. I knew the end was near and my heart was broken for my friends. After praying for comfort and peace for Dominic’s family in the chapel, I walked out into the near empty hospital corridor and almost ran right into Dominic’s dad. I didn’t know what to say or how to even begin but I felt a strong pull to go to him and pray. So I gave him a hug and asked if I could pray with him. I don’t know where the words came from and I will never remember what they were but my soul was touched as we bowed in prayer together in that dark, empty hallway. Dominic died the next day and while I was very sad, I was also very much at peace because the previous night, I knew that God had prepared a place for him.

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To support childhood cancer research in honor of kids like Dominic, make a donation to our team (TIL Foundation) with Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation. https://www.alexslemonade.org/mypage/1314958