Nick Herringer is 22 years old and from Hastings, Neb. He is also a part of the Team Jack Family. Nick is a dedicated Husker fan and attended the 2013 Husker Spring game where Jack made the famous 69-yard touchdown run, not knowing one day he, too, would be diagnosed with a brain tumor.

In January 2015, Nick, who was then a freshman at Hastings High School, started complaining about severe headaches and extreme fatigue. Nick was diagnosed with migraine headaches and put on a steroid to help with the painful headaches and the rash that developed on the left side of his face. Once Nick had finished taking the steroid, his symptoms would return almost instantly.

In late January, Nick started throwing up nonstop for hours, and went to Mary Lanning Hospital for blood tests and returned home with nausea pills and pain meds. Nick’s condition worsened, and he returned to the ER. After a CT scan, the ER doctor told the Herringers that there was a mass on Nick’s brain the size of an orange and sent him by ambulance to UNMC in Omaha.

In February 2015, Nick had surgery to remove the brain tumor. He was diagnosed with grade 4 glioblastoma at the age of 14. He went through six weeks of daily radiation treatments followed by one year of chemotherapy. He finished treatments in May of 2016. Nick was then put on a schedule to scan every three months.

In December 2016, after a routine scan, the Herringers were told that Nick’s cancer was back, and he had his second craniotomy. Through the power of prayer, pathology results confirmed that there was no cancer, but instead necrosis or radiation scarring. He was told to go live his life and put back on scans every three months.

In November 2017, they were once again told there was a spot on the scan the doctors believed to be cancer. Nicholas was enrolled in a clinical trial in Colorado. He did five Immunotherapy treatments, but in February, a routine scan confirmed the tumor was continuing to grow.

On March 8, 2018, Nick had his third craniotomy. Pathology confirmed grade 4 brain cancer once again. Nick endured six more weeks of daily radiation treatments along with chemotherapy. In July, Nick then enrolled in his second clinical trial through the Children’s Oncology Group. For the next four months, Nick took 119 pills per day. Of those 119 pills, 56 of them were clinical trial drugs. The remaining 63 pills were used to combat side effects of the trial drugs. Unfortunately, on Nov. 30, 2018, Nick’s MRI showed tumor regrowth and he was immediately taken off the trial.

During the month of December, Nick had been screened for five different clinical trials: Two CAR-T Cell trials at Seattle Children’s, the Polio Vaccine trial at Duke, the Herpes Vaccine trial at Children’s of Alabama and an immunotherapy trial at St. Jude. He was turned down for all five trials for various reasons. The Herringers (along with their amazing Oncologist Dr. Minnie Abromowitch) are searching endlessly for their next course of action against this terrible disease. THEY REMAIN HOPEFUL! The Herringer family cannot stress enough how important it is to fund research for pediatric brain cancer.

Nick continues to fight and inspire those around him. He has never complained about this diagnosis. Nick has a very strong faith in God, and he is trusting this situation to Him. The verse that Nick chooses to live by is 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18. “Always be joyful, Never stop praying, Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.”

In June 2023, Nick’s scans of his brain and spine were both stable which was wonderful news. Unfortunately, Nick had to stop the treatments that were difficult to get approved because he was having a hardware issue with the plates and screws from his craniotomy in 2020. This resulted in yet another surgery to remove the hardware, which initially went better than expected.  Unfortunately, on December 6, 2023, Nick was life flighted to UNMC and placed into isolation in the cancer ICU. Doctors confirmed that Nick has a very severe case of acute pancreatitis.  Nick’s CT scan shows that his two previous brain bleeds have not changed, so they will continue to monitor. Nick and his family will continue to research his seizure activity to try to control his seizures. 

“Do you know what I have learned over these past nine years? No matter how hard we try, we can't fix this. The damage is done. Nick will never be the person he was before this brain cancer diagnosis.” -Team Nick

The Herringer family is eternally grateful to everyone who has prayed for Nick.

-Tammy Herringer, Nick’s Mom