NIK’S WISH: How one young man’s death led to hundreds of cancer wishes

By Dillon Valencia

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    ROCKFORD, Illinois (WREX) — Watching your child battle cancer is no easy task, but even in the midst of such a dark time, seeing one of their wishes come true brings hope.

That’s exactly what Kelli Ritschel has been doing in the Stateline and across the U.S., providing wishes for young adults 18-24 battling cancer.

Kelli Ritschel is only left with the memory of her son. His items adorn the walls and shelves of her home, reminding her of the reality she faces every day: her son is no longer there.

“It felt like I just got hit by a truck, and I just… my head dropped, and my heart just started to pound. I just couldn’t believe that what I was hearing,” said Kelli Ritschel Boehle, Chief Joy Officer for the Nikolas Ritschel Foundation.

Kelli describes the moment she learned that Nik had cancer.

“On Christmas Day, in 2008, they discovered that there was a tumor wrapped around his spine, and it was rare cancer called synovial sarcoma.”

Nik was in his senior year of high school, just 17 years old. While most teens his age worried about prom or the football team, Nik’s story was tragically different.

“They brought me into a little room, and they told me that the tumor was not benign, that it was a cancerous tumor,” Kelli recalled.

“My mind went directly to, I have to save his life. That’s the drive that I tried to carry with us as we tried to battle the cancer together.”

What Kelli didn’t know was that the next four years would be a rollercoaster of emotions, decisions, and uncertainty.

“He only had a 25% chance of beating cancer, so he had to go at it very, very hard,” she said.

But despite the difficult time, Nik and Kelli were ready to fight. Yet, there was one thing that gave them both a glimmer of light—a wish that Nik had the opportunity to choose, with the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

“The one thing for Nik though, having this idea of having a wish meant a lot to him,” Kelli explained.

Make-A-Wish is known for granting wishes to children battling critical illnesses, and Nik’s wish was no exception. Make-A-Wish however, only provided wishes to children under 18. Nik had to sign up for the program before he turned 18.

However, it wasn’t easy for Nik to settle on his wish.

“He just kept coming up with wishes they actually could not do. So he asked to be on the game show, Deal or No Deal,” Kelli said.

“He even asked for a pet monkey. Make-A-Wish can’t give away pet monkeys either.”

Nik’s wish was secured, which gave him some time to think about what he truly wanted.

In the summer of 2010, things began to take a turn for the worse. The cancer had spread to Nik’s lungs.

“Typically, when it metastasizes, things are a lot worse, [it’s] very hard to fight it again,” Kelli said.

By that point, Kelli had a difficult conversation with her son.

“So it came to a point where, you know, I went to Nik and I said, you know, if you want to stop fighting, we stop fighting. If you want to continue fighting, I’ll continue fighting.”

And so, they kept fighting. They fought long enough for Nik to experience his wish.

“[He said] “I want to do something for my mom. I’d like to take her to Hawaii. Can we change the wish?” And I said, Yes, we can do that,” Kelli said.

And so, the family traveled to Hawaii. Nik was able to go deep-sea fishing, an activity he loved, and even caught a large tuna.

“It almost felt like we were normal again,” Kelli said.

But Nik wasn’t just thinking of himself. He had a friend, Nate, who wasn’t able to get a wish by the time he turned 18.

“Nate told him that he missed out on Make-A-Wish by one month. He was diagnosed one month after his 18th birthday, and he didn’t qualify for a wish. And so, it just hit Nik really hard,” Kelli said.

Nik’s final request to his mom was simple, yet profound.

“Can you help him get a wish too? Mom, promise me you’ll help him get a wish.”

“And I said, Nik, when this is over, I promise I’ll try to do something.”

And that’s exactly what Kelli did—though it was without Nik by her side.

A routine procedure turned into a nightmare.

“The doctor came in and said, ‘Hey, Nick, how you doing?’ And he said, ‘I’m afraid.’ And Nik was never afraid. He has gone through so many things, and this was a little bronchoscopy, his 20-minute procedure,” Kelli recalled tearfully.

“They came to take him away, and he said, ‘Stop. I want to tell my mom one more time. I love her.’ So they reeled him back, and I said, ‘Yeah, I’ll see you in 20 minutes. I love you too.’ And off he went,” Kelli continued.

But tragedy struck.

“The tumor itself invaded a major blood vessel while he was under and he bled to death in the arms of the doctors that day.”

Nik’s story, however, does not end in vain.

Because of him, young adults get wishes. His friend Nate was the first.

“I know that he’s looking down and saying, ‘I know you’re doing it, Mom, keep doing it. I know he is proud of me,'” Kelli added.

Nik passed away on March 9, 2012. He was 21 years old.

Since then, Kelli has created Nik’s Wish in his honor, granting 387 wishes and counting to young adults across the country.

And today, there are still 20 wishes waiting for funding, with an average wish costing $10,000.

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