(Please join the Principato Family and Christian Surfers Manasquan this Saturday, April 4th at 10am on the beach off Brinley Ave (by the Pavilion) in Bradley Beach. The surfers will be doing a memorial paddle out in honor of Nick. Click here for contact info.)
Nicholas Principato was a 5 year old boy from the Jersey Shore who courageously battled leukemia. He was diagnosed with T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia one day after his 4th birthday. He had a large tumor in his chest and his whole left lung collapsed from the pressure of the tumor.
He went to Children's Hospital of Philadelphia where he was in ICU for awhile but did very well with his first month of chemo and radiation. Last December, he became sick with an overwhelming infection in his leg and left eye. They tried several antibiotics, including injecting them into his eye but to no avail. On Christmas Eve morning he had his left eye removed.
After that he did quite well even after an allergy to his chemo drug that required a regime of injections 3x a week. He was in maintenance for only about a month when they got the news the week of October 23, 2008 that he relapsed with leukemia cells in his bone marrow. Through the will of God, Nick stablized and was considered a candidate for a bone marrow transplant.
Several drives were held in the area and a suitable donor was found. His family traveled to Sloan Kettering in New York for the transplant, but the night before the surgery, he began running a fever and the transplant was postponed. Further testing showed that the leukemia had come back and was spreading. With little hope for a cure, his parents made the difficult decision to bring him home for his last days rather than put him through more pain and drugs.
The Make-A-Wish Foundation sent his family to DisneyWorld on Sunday, March 22nd for a week. While there, Nick became extremely ill and his family returned to New Jersey, where Nick passed into the loving arms of his Savior on the morning of Thursday, March 26th.
This is a time when we as a community need to come together to help support his family through prayer and giving. The Prinicipatos have been put under significant financial strain due to large hospital bills and travel costs.
Please continue to pray for the Principatos, that God would overwhelm them with His love and peace.
We ask you to continue to register for upcoming bone marrow drives so others on waiting lists may be helped. You can learn more about donating by clicking here.
"Then Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them, and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever receives one little child like this in My name receives Me." (Matt 18:2-5, NKJV)
