Nathan Forker
Nathan was born on October 30th and as an almost Halloween baby, it should be no surprise to anyone to learn that Halloween is his absolute favorite holiday. Nathan was the happiest baby, his mom remembers that he woke up smiling everyday & laughing. He was a pandemic baby and made a lot of appearances on his mom's work video calls and made every person smile and laugh.
Nathan is an incredible kid with a giant heart for others. At six years old, he loves to sing and dance and give big hugs. He loves Spiderman and dinosaurs. He adores learning new things and always asks the best questions that really make you think! He Loves Pizza and WWE wrestling (Cody Rhoades is his favorite wrestler). Just recently his brothers bought tickets and sent Nathan & His Dad to a Monday Night Raw Event, which was amazing. He loves building a tent with with his mom and they put pictures of the beach all inside and pretend we're at the beach because that is a trip they are hoping to take together soon.
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Diagnosis
The first symptoms Nathan's parents noticed were really behavioral. He had a total personality change that was really difficult to explain. Nathan looked pale and was losing weight. He would get very angry and crying that his head hurt but their concerns were dismissed as behavioral since their family had recently undergone another loss. Nathan's symptoms became worse and he started vomiting and his family insisted on additional medical testing. A visit to the emergency room and then an MRI showed a mass in his brain stem. His parents struggled to process the enormity of a DIPG diagnosis and Nathan was care flighted the next morning to another hospital eight hours away and he began treatment. This journey has not been easy for Nathan and his family, and they have struggled in so many ways to keep moving forward in the face of countless challenges even beyond Nathan's diagnosis.
His mom has decided to share his story because she feels that there should be so much more national attention for children with DIPG. She wants so much more than DIPG for her baby and wants all kids like Nathan who are facing this disease to have a fighting chance. Nathan is an old soul and even at six years old understand the reality of his disease, but chooses to live his life with gratitude and joy. ​
Nathan is facing down DIPG with the sweetest spirit and a heart of hopefulness and The Archer Foundation is proud to walk alongside his family as they face the unknown together.
