Lincoln boy honorary chairman of Relay For Life

LINCOLN – An 11-year old Lincoln boy, who successfully battled a rare cancer for more than a year, on Friday will help the American Cancer Society in its efforts to raise awareness and money to fight cancer.

Nikk Libbey, the son of Bert “Wink” and Leslie Libbey, is helping the organization that helped him by serving as the honorary chairman of the American Cancer Society’s Relay For Life Walk.

Libbey will lead cancer survivors in the first lap of the society’s Greater Bangor relay event, which begins at 6 p.m. Friday at Old Town High School. During the noncompetitive, 24-hour walk, members of various teams will take turns walking around the track all night long to raise money to help the society in its fight against cancer. Hundreds and maybe thousands of candles placed around the track will be lit during a special ceremony at 9:45 p.m. Friday. The Bangor-area event is one of several planned in the next few weeks. Carla Bommarito, chairperson of the event, said the message of the relay event was that cancer can be conquered. She said the ceremonial lap honored the courage of everyone who has defeated cancer.

Nikk, a young, active boy who loves playing sports, especially baseball and basketball, was diagnosed with a rare type of leukemia in January 2001.

“Everything happened very quickly,” recalled Leslie Libbey, Nikk’s mom. Medical tests revealed the youngster needed a bone marrow transplant very soon to survive.

Nikk’s younger sister, Brittany, 8, was a perfect match. In April 2001, Nikk received the lifesaving bone marrow transplant from his sister at Children’s Hospital in Boston. The 11-year old was in a special treatment program at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, also in Boston. The American Cancer Society funds the work of several researchers at the cancer institute.

By early June 2001, Nikk and his family were back home in Lincoln. Leslie Libbey said the family was fortunate that Nikk was able to receive many of his treatments at Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor. “We were able to get a lot of his clinic visits back home, which meant a lot to us,” she said. “The pediatric oncologists at EMMC were absolutely wonderful.”

Nikk, who was out of school for more than a year with a tutor, went back to his fourth-grade class at the Ella P. Burr School about a month ago.

Leslie Libbey said her son is doing well.

Nikk’s big blue eyes twinkle at the mention of playing baseball and basketball or riding on an all-terrain vehicle with his dad.

“He lives for sports,” said his mom. Nikk is a member of the Lincoln Little League baseball team, the Red Sox, for which he plays second base, shortstop and pitches. The 11-year-old says he is happy to be able to play outdoors again.

Peggy Markson, communications director for the American Cancer Society in Topsham, said Dr. Eva Guinan, Nikk’s physician in the pediatric oncology department at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, wanted to participate in the relay but could not get away.

“Nikk has put up with a number of drugs with various side effects,” said Guinan. “Nikk displayed a maturity through this process beyond his years. He looked at a number of difficult truths and kept moving forward. He is hopeful, forward-looking and moving on with his life. He was very inspiring to everyone here.”

Leslie Libbey said it seems that children can deal with situations like this much easier than adults. “Nikk knows there was a possibility he could have died, but he didn’t dwell on that aspect of it. He looks at it optimistically and feels lucky he is here today. That is all he focuses on,” she said.

The Libbeys, who are very proud of their son, say the American Cancer Society provided a lot of assistance and support to their family. “There were so many different ways they were there for us,” she said.

For information about purchasing candles, forming a team or walking in the survivors’ lap of the walk, call the American Cancer Society at 1-800-464-3102, press 3, or call 207-989-0332. The Bangor-area event is one of several planned in the next few weeks.