Nikisha's Dream - Cancer patient gives children gift of love
By JOHN HAZARD
Published in the Asbury Park Press - 7 July 2001
NEPTUNE, NJ - A Florida woman with cancer whose wish was to give teddy bears to ill children received something much greater: the love of the little ones she met and the satisfaction of giving others the chance to make a difference.
 Nikisha Clarke recently spent a week in the borough to help the Empathy Foundation with its mission of delivering teddy bears to pediatric patients at Jersey Shore Medical Center in Neptune. The 21-year-old, who has brain cancer, made such an impact on the children and others during the trip that the foundation now plans to offer cancer patients nationwide the chance to deliver the stuffed animals. "The whole trip made me feel so good," said Clarke, of Oviedo, Fla. "The love I received from the children I met at the hospital and the people in town who opened their hearts to me made me feel so good." Clarke said she learned about the Empathy Foundation through the Internet.
Last month, she contacted its founder, Point Pleasant Beach resident Tom Riles, in hopes of receiving a bear that might comfort her in her struggle with cancer. "I sometimes get sad and lonely just sitting at home," Clarke said. "But I love teddy bears and just knew that a bear could make me happy. So I began searching the Internet for teddy bears."
Three days after contacting Riles, Clarke received word that she would have to earn her bear. "When I read her story I just knew she was special," Riles said, "and the idea just came to me." Riles arranged for Clarke to fly to New Jersey and bring her story -- and the bears -- to ill children. "The whole trip came together so quickly," Riles said. "Once I started telling people her story, they offered whatever assistance they could."
While in New Jersey, Clarke and her mother, Jeannette, received a free stay at the White Sands Resort and Spa in Point Pleasant Beach, and enjoyed a week of free food and entertainment offered by borough merchants and restaurant owners touched by her story. Riles received offers of free meals, transportation and gifts from a variety of area residents, including the four bears she took home with her. "The people of this town really opened their hearts to this girl and it made everyone involved feel so good," Riles said.
Now, Riles said, the Empathy Foundation, created five years ago to deliver the teddy bears, will arrange for a cancer patient to spend a week in Point Pleasant Beach each month. "We had such a wonderful experience with Nikisha that we want to share it with others," Riles said. The foundation has established ties with the National Association of Hospital Hospitality Houses to identify new candidates for the trip. "We hope to have our next visitor by July," Riles said, "and of course, we hope we can get Nikisha back up for a visit as well." |
|
|
|
