Support Dan Wilsea's Battle Against Cancer

I have organized this fundraiser on behalf of my brother-in-law, Dan Wilsea, The Specimen of Human Performance, a well-deserved moniker for the strongest man I know.

Dan has stood toe-to-toe with squamous cell carcinoma three times. His first bout was in 2015 when Dan underwent surgeries to remove a tumor from his tongue and lymph nodes in his neck, ending round one.

Then, in late 2021, the cancer returned. The initial treatment recommendation was an aggressive surgery, which would require months of recovery and extensive rehab. A second opinion came from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) in Manhattan who offered another approach for Dan’s fight. Thankfully, the MSKCC team was running a twelve-week, stage-two clinical trial for which Dan was eligible.

So, in early 2022, Dan began round two of his fight. Utilizing a combination of chemotherapy and immunotherapy. The trial was successful, considerably shrinking the tumor's initial size, resulting in a two-hour rather than a twelve-hour surgery.

However, the successful effects were not long-lasting. Recently, Dan entered a third round of battle. In March of 2024, a grape-sized tumor was removed from his tongue. Returning to MSKCC in June, Dan fought through eight weeks of chemotherapy and radiation therapy to yet again ring the bell on another hard-fought round.

Dan continued to work as a Staff Therapist on the Child, Adolescent, and Family team at The Family Institute at Northwestern University and participated in various volunteer efforts with the Special Olympics, Team Rubicon, and the Bank of America Racing series. He is also a regular speaker and content creator supporting exercise and physical activity for cancer patients and a participant in MSKCC’s Cycle for Survival, an annual fundraiser for rare cancers.

Dan has dedicated his life to helping others, and now, the strongest, kindest man I know needs some help. Any donation of any size would be a tremendous act of kindness and would go a long way to helping Dan pad the skyrocketing costs of fighting this devastating battle. Thank you for your time and attention.