SAN ANTONIO – There are 11 new National Champions for Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, and one of the children is from San Antonio.
Nolan Smith, 5, is a cancer survivor and a National Champion that advocates for pediatric healthcare. All 11 national champions have their own story.
Here’s Nolan and his family’s story, according to CHRISTUS Children’s Foundation:
“We went from a normal Saturday afternoon to finding out our child was going to lose his eye just like that,” said Dr. Courtney Smith, Nolan’s mother and pediatrician with CHRISTUS Children’s Primary Care. “I’ve cared for children going through cancer throughout my career, but it is entirely different being on the other side.”
Nolan was diagnosed with retinoblastoma at the age of three after his mother discovered something strange in the middle of his eye.
Nolan’s primary care physician referred him to a retina specialist. Soon after, he was diagnosed with the disease.
Two weeks later, Nolan had surgery to get his eye removed in July 2019. Eight weeks after surgery, he was fitted for a prosthetic eye - as he likes to call it, his “superhero eye.”
He later went through six months of chemotherapy at CHRISTUS Children’s, ending his treatment before his fourth birthday.
He rang the bell to mark the completion of his time in chemo.
“As a physician, there are things I never noticed going on around me that make CHRISTUS Children’s as special as it is,” Dr. Smith said. “I’m so grateful for the Child Life specialists who helped Nolan feel safe and normal, the residents who took the time out of their busy days to get to know my son, the support staff who drew pictures for him to ease his nerves, and everyone who made Nolan, my husband and I, not feel so alone in our journey.”
Now, Nolan is 5 and cancer-free. He enjoys going to his six-month appointments, and when he’s there, he likes to visit his friends in the Child Like Zone. He loves to read, recently began playing t-ball, and enjoys hanging with his younger brother, Cooper.
This year, Nolan and Dr. Smith will be part of the CHRISTUS Children’s float for the River Parade for Fiesta.
“Thanks to CHRISTUS Children’s, Nolan gets to continue growing up and enjoying being a kid,” said Nolan’s father Josh Smith. “He’s excited to finally join the big kids in kindergarten this fall.”
CHRISTUS Children’s shares that donations help fund innovation and cancer care, all of which have helped in Nolan’s journey with cancer.