Since launching Nathan's team in May 2020, Nathan’s Cancer Slayers has raised an unbelievable $813,467 to fight childhood cancer in Nathan's honor. We are so proud of the amazing work we've accomplished and are ready to continue on in Nathan's memory again this year. We hope you'll join Nathan's team for Alex’s Million Mile challenge this September to raise awareness and funds for vital research. Just click "Join the Team" here to log miles and help other kids in Nathan's honor!

Nathan’s Cancer Slayers directly funds promising research at USC and Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. Led by Drs. Valter Longo and JinSeok Park, the team is testing a gentle, yet powerful “multi-hit” approach grounded in decades of lab and clinical data and shown to make chemotherapy more effective. Combining a fasting-mimicking diet, high-dose intravenous vitamin C, and doxycycline, the approach aims to sensitize cancer cells to chemotherapy, protect healthy cells, and reduce toxic side effects. It has already shown promising results in adult clinical trials for some of the hardest-to-treat cancers, including pancreatic and lung cancers. Our goal is to move this research to pediatric clinical trials within 2 to 3 years—giving kids hope for better outcomes and brighter futures!

Nathan’s brother Spencer and I have firsthand experience with all three protocols, and I believe God and Nathan are pushing us in this direction. When Nathan was in hospice, he received high-dose IV vitamin C and doxycycline for two weeks. His energy soared, and MRI scans showed the cancer had stopped advancing during that period. Sadly, the cancer had already metastasized to his spinal fluid, and an alternative treatment failed. But we saw firsthand the promise of this gentle approach. 

We also have firsthand experience with fasting. Our beloved Labrador, Parker, was diagnosed with hemangiosarcoma in 2022 and given just months to live. With daily time-restricted fasting added to his treatment plan, he survived over 3 years — more than 5x longer than average — while maintaining an excellent quality of life.

Drs. Park and Longo’s research is an important step toward bringing these low-toxicity therapies to children with cancer. Our goal is to improve both survival and quality of life for kids by making treatment more effective and less toxic. Nathan’s experience with rhabdomyosarcoma is why this work matters so deeply to us — we believe he would have had a fighting chance if these additional protocols had been part of his treatment. 

Our team works in Nathan’s memory. Nathan was one of a kind, a great soul, and wise beyond his years. Loving and kind, funny, smart, interesting, easy-going, a little bit goofy and always positive. The kid who gently and patiently helped care for younger children. The student who loved his physical therapy class and wanted to start a career in medicine. The sharp-shooter, Tolkien fan, accomplished gamer, tenacious soccer defender, and flag-football champion. 

The loving son and brother who was crazy about our dogs--Milo, Buck, Stoney, Parker, and Major Tom--and enjoyed being with his family more than anything. Nathan loved his big bowl of cheerios every morning and was especially fond of pizza, pasta, and steak. He was passionate about college football and basketball (Go Blue! Go Dawgs!), a huge fan of Game of Thrones and Breaking Bad, an astute political observer, clever and quick with a comeback, super silly, always laughing and overflowing with love, empathy, and compassion. The cancer patient who bore so much, never wanted his disease to define him, shunned pity and made all the doctors and nurses laugh. He remained positive and a joy to be around throughout his struggle. When his mom complained bitterly that his cancer was evil, he disagreed: “Look, it made me lose 50 pounds of fat!” Or when the EMTs asked him to put his arms up, he said: “What, am I under arrest?!” Humor in the face of adversity. Classic Nathan.

That Nathan approached his illness with such strength, grace, and courage was hardly surprising. He was resilient and fearless from the time he was a toddler, riding his bike like Evil Knieval, skiing straight down steep mountain trails at high speed, and countless other dare-devilish acts. Even a fractured leg and two casts didn’t slow him down when he was two. And he was always calm, even under immense pressure. In middle school, when his best friend tripped on the steps and a porcelain cereal bowl broke, bizarrely severing his friend's artery, Nathan calmly applied pressure and called 911. His friend almost bled out, but survived by a whisker. EMTs came to the door a few days later and reported that if Nathan had panicked, even for a minute, his friend certainly would have died. They said he was a life saver, a hero.  

Nathan is loved more than words can say by his father, Mike, mother Michele, step-mother Salma, and especially his big brother Spencer, who withdrew from college to help care for him. His grandmother, Lala, spent the last six weeks with him, trying each day to help him live. Our dogs adored him. His grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins knew what an exceptional person he was, and all shuddered to imagine a world without him. He was and will always be loved immensely and offered a heart full of love himself. All will miss him dearly.

Please click here to read Nathan's full hero story, plus an amazing video!