Early in the summer of 2025 Nathaniel Simpkin 23, admitted himself to the hospital. He works a blue collar job, primarily working outside for many hours at a time. To his dismay after a shift, noticed large lymph nodes on and around his neck, with the thought of maybe a tick Bourne illness.

Alongside the physical tick came a few symptoms of fatigue and discomfort that he had presumed to be Lyme disease or residual issues from the tick bites.

Medications had been given to him as a precaution until bloodwork could come back to confirm or deny the diagnosis.

In the short few weeks to follow he began to notice that he felt weaker, not himself and that the antibiotic given was not effective, not working at all actually, ended up back at the emergency room and to his surprise he did not have Lyme disease, or any result of having a tick. Some time passed and the decision to run a more thorough lab was made, as his condition had not improved and he, and his loved ones felt something was not right. Doctors took a second look and decided he needed an X-ray, and a CT scan. One thing led to another. Some time passed and the decision to run a more thorough lab was made, as his condition had not improved and he, and his loved ones felt something was not right.

After many hours of advocating with medical professionals and eventually having more testing done …the unthinkable had happened.

Nate, at the age of 23 had been sat down by his doctor and told he had Nodular Sclerosis Hodgkins lymphoma stage 4 Completely gut wrenching.

This news was jolting, time stopping, inconceivable and in many ways has been devastating. As him, his family, girlfriend, and medical support team digested the diagnosis it was clear that he needed immediate treatment. The cancer was confirmed to be encroaching on vital organs. All decided a second option was crucial at this point, ended up being seen in Rochester NY at the Strong Memorial Hospital Cancer Center- where he was able to be seen by a lymphoma specialists, who diagnosed him at Stage 2b- and the best course of treatment.

Fast forward to now, the last weeks of the summer. He will be beggining multiple rounds of Chemotherapy in the weeks to come. He will be out of work and incapacitated by medications as he begins this journey. He will weather a storm most of us cannot imagine. During this difficult time his family and loved ones have gathered their resources to help care for him on his road to recovery, to ensure that his medical bills can be paid, that sufficient care to fight this awful cancer can be provided, while also not crippling him financially at such a young age.

Unfortunately these efforts are not enough and we are now kindly asking for any type of donation to help assist him and his significant other keep things afloat during this deepest time of need. We graciously ask for any monetary donation that can be made be considered to aid in the exhortation costs of undergoing chemotherapy. We ask for prayers, words of positivity and encouragement, and for those that can,monetary donations. We thank every single one of you that took the time to read Nate’s story and we humbly and sincerely thank you for your contribution to his recovery and his future stories to come!