November 27, 2021 8:05 PM
Photo courtesy of Jim Hickey
LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) — A New York man takes to the curb to raise awareness about childhood cancer, but in the middle of his journey he found himself in a battle of his own.
Jim Hickey has taken ten walks through different states to raise money for children with cancer.
“You know, adults, we’ve already lived quite a bit of our lives. While Paishence say, she’s 5 years old and this is all she knows,” Hickey said.
Hickey was walking through Nebraska for Paishence Hansen, a 5-year-old from Cozad, who is currently battling childhood brain cancer.
“Her eyes just stole my heart and I also saw that they weren’t getting as much help as I thought they could use. So I decided to walk through Nebraska to raise awareness for Paishence,” Hickey said.
Hickey was on the road 360 miles when he was diagnosed with bladder cancer.
“He really wanted to finish, but in the end it got mental for him. I’m like Jim, you have to take care of yourself. My daughter is still with us, but now you have your situation with cancer,” said Tara Meyer Paishence’s mother.
Despite his own diagnosis, Hickey still wants to hit the road when he feels better and continue raising awareness for childhood cancer.
“I want to focus on childhood cancer because only 4% of the money allocated to cancer research in the country goes to childhood cancer,” Hickey said.
Paishence has been off chemo for a year and she is doing better.
This Saturday, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln invited Paishence and her family to the men’s basketball game.
“It’s great that my daughter is here because we as a family don’t do these things. So it’s an honor for us to just attend a game,” Meyer said.
Once Jim starts to feel better, he starts the walk in the same place where he left off.
“I hope enough awareness is raised that we can find a cure,” Hickey said.
If you want to help Paishence and her family, you can go to her GoFundMe.
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