NEWARK, Del. – In commemoration of Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, 9-year-old Caleb Quick met five of the selfless donors who helped saved his life, during the inaugural Hero Day celebration held in his honor at Newark Charter School on Sunday, September 9.
During a special ceremony held outside of the successful blood drive and in the midst of Hero Day, Blood Bank of Delmarva Executive Director Steven Corse thanked Caleb’s mother, Naomi Quick, for organizing Hero Day and the blood drive held in honor of her son and all children who have battled cancer.
“It’s important to celebrate kids like Caleb, because we’re already a week into September, which every year is the month we celebrate Childhood Cancer Awareness Month,” Corse said. “Caleb was specifically helped by blood donors, and it’s important to note that those transfusions were available because people came to Blood Bank of Delmarva, gave their time, and donated their blood at the best blood bank in Delaware.”
With that, Corse introduced Caleb to blood donors Steve Aubuchon, David Blake, Tobi Fitzgerald, Ken Haley, and Ernest Kulhanek. Once Caleb and Naomi had met all the donors, Naomi and her husband, John, were overcome with emotion upon meeting the real-life superheroes that helped save their son’s life.
“Thank you all. You saved our boy’s life,” Naomi said to donors, with tears coming down her face. “There are no words enough to thank you for what you’ve done for our family, but I hope you can hear it in our voices and see it in his eyes how very grateful we are for what you’ve done.”
This was just the second time in the modern era that Blood Bank of Delmarva held a meet-and-greet between a recipient and donors.
Newark Mayor Jerry Clifton presented a proclamation for Hero Day and took the unprecedented step of asking Caleb to co-sign the proclamation.
Also on hand were State Treasurer Colleen Davis, who donates blood as often as she can; Joe McDonough, founder of the Andrew McDonough B+ Foundation; the Philly Phanatic, who was up to his usual, hilarious antics; Captain American and Spiderman, two of Caleb’s favorite superheroes; members of CityLight Vineyard Church, where the Quick family attends; Candi Hawkinson, a nurse who cared for Caleb; and New Castle County Police Corporals Chris Gigliotti and Kristin Hester, along with K-9 Niko, of the Community Services Unit. Gigliotti even rolled up his sleeve to donate later at the Hero Day blood drive.
The event was pleasantly surreal for the donors meeting Caleb, a first for all of them.
“It’s nice to see the final picture,” Haley said. “You don’t get to see that; you don’t really realize what you’re doing. But, it’s nice to see [today].”
The other donors agreed.
“Every time I’ve given platelets, they say that this is helping cancer patients,” Aubuchon said. “You always wonder, where did it really go? To actually be contacted, and for it to be a kid, that’s just really fantastic. It’s great for anybody, of course, but when you see a 9-year-old kid get it, it’s really fulfilling. It makes want to sign up and do it again next week.”
“To see the family and how emotional they were, it’s incredible,” Blake said. “It gives you a feeling of pride. I just look at it as trying to help in any way I can.”
As for Fitzgerald, she wasn’t expecting an event like this.
“It was very emotional,” she said. “Just meeting him, I can’t even describe what it’s like. It’s just kind of surreal to be able to meet someone whose life you changed like that.”
More about Caleb
Caleb Quick, 9, lives in Newark with his parents and brothers and sisters. He was a healthy, spunky, adventurous 5-year-old when he was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia in August 2020. Since this most common form of childhood cancer affects the blood, the chemotherapy treatments designed to kill cancer cells also kill healthy blood cells. This makes lifesaving blood transfusions critical to prevent holds in treatment protocol while numbers recover. Caleb received three units of packed red blood cells and two units of platelets during treatment at Nemours Children’s Hospital, where he received care from experts in the pediatric oncology field. Today, Caleb enjoys superheroes and rollercoasters and just being a normal kid.
More about the donors
Steve Aubuchon is a husband and a father of one. He is a Business Development Lead with W.L. Gore & Associates, and an affiliated faculty member in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at UD, along with an executive mentor within the Horn Entrepreneurship program and Lerner School of Business at UD. In his spare time, Steve loves to mountain bike, is a cantor and musician at his church, and loves following the Philadelphia sports teams. Steve has been donating blood and platelets routinely over the last 20 years and has made over 50 donations through the BBD.
David Blake is a Product Specialist also at W.L. Gore & Associates where he has worked for 34 years. He enjoys playing in several adult baseball leagues and has also been a YMCA/USA Swimming, high school, and college swim official for 20 years. David is proud to be a blood donor to help our community and individuals battling illnesses and has donated over 6 gallons.
Tobi Fitzgerald has been a special education teacher in Delaware for 15 years. She is currently at George Read Middle School as an Integration A teacher and a volunteer with the Best Buddies International as a school chapter leader, also at George Read. Her passion is helping to make a more inclusive world for individuals with IDD. Tobi’s commitment to saving lives started at home, as her husband received a life-saving kidney transplant in 2019. While she was not a match for him, she recognized the direct impact that living donors make to save the lives of our loved ones, so she began donating platelets to help others.
Ken Haley retired appropriately 10 years ago from the federal government as an auditor with over 30 years of experience. He served in the U.S. army for two years, and he enjoyed giving blood for many years but recently stopped because of health issues that prevented further donations. Ken recently celebrated his 77th birthday, and he remains physically active by fishing, hunting and playing pickleball four to five times a week.
Ernest Kulhanek and his wife of 41 years, Judy, have three adult children and four grandchildren. He teaches teenage Sunday school class at Calvary Baptist Church. Ernest served in the U.S. Navy with Attack Squadron 34. He is life member of the Citizens’ Hose Company No. 1 in Smyrna, and he is employed by the State of Delaware Department of Corrections. He started donating whole blood for his wife when she became anemic, and was thrilled to find out his blood was suitable for children needing it for cancer treatment.
