Cancer survivor Jim Hickey is turning personal hardship into hope for a Staten Island family, walking 100 miles across Long Island and into New York City to raise awareness and support for 6-year-old Lucy Dina as she battles neuroblastoma.
Hickey, 64, a Marine Corps veteran and three-time cancer survivor, made his way through Nassau County this week, including a stop in Jericho as part of the journey that will end in Staten Island with a fundraiser for Lucy and her family.
The stretch into Jericho was a shorter day by his standards, about nine miles.
The walk is especially significant given Hickey’s own recent medical history. Over the past three and a half years, he has undergone surgeries for kidney, bladder and prostate cancer, all linked, he said, to contaminated water exposure while stationed at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune during his service.
Despite the surgeries, Hickey said he felt compelled to keep moving.
“That just messed with my head,” he said.
In 1998, he quit his job, sold his car, gave up his apartment and set out to walk across the country to raise awareness for cancer research. Though repeated attempts to cross America were interrupted by injury, family tragedy and later his own illnesses, the walks evolved into something more: fundraising efforts for children with cancer and their families.
Lucy is the 40th child Hickey has chosen to support.
The 6-year-old Staten Island girl was first diagnosed with stage 4 high-risk neuroblastoma in March 2020, when she was just 9 months old, according to her mother, Lori Del Percio.
After intensive treatment, Lucy entered remission in October 2020. But just weeks later, the cancer returned in her brain, requiring emergency treatment and surgery.
Following additional treatment, Lucy remained in remission for nearly four and a half years, returning to normal childhood activities such as school and swim lessons.
That changed again last summer.
Toward the end of August, Del Percio noticed Lucy limping. Scans later confirmed the cancer had returned, this time affecting her leg.
“She had relapsed with a four,” Del Percio said, referring to the cancer’s score on the diagnostic scale.
Lucy remains in active treatment and is currently receiving inpatient immunotherapy one week each month through August, with doctors still determining the next phase of care.
As the family manages Lucy’s treatment, they are also dealing with a housing crisis. In February, the roof of their Staten Island apartment building collapsed, causing severe water damage and mold contamination.
Since then, Del Percio, Lucy and Del Percio’s fiancé, Brock Underwood, have been staying at her sister’s apartment in Manhattan near Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. The combination of medical and housing challenges has made Hickey’s support especially meaningful, Del Percio said.
“It was so sweet of him,” she elaborated. “That's something I would love to do in my retirement, and he's doing it. It's keeping him healthy.”
Hickey said the walk will conclude April 19 at Curly Wolf Saloon in Staten Island, where a major fundraiser is planned for Lucy.
Along the way, Hickey said he has been buoyed by encouragement from supporters following his progress online and by the knowledge that Lucy’s struggle far outweighs his own physical discomfort, despite a shoulder injury that caused a brief delay in his journey.
“This kid here is going through, God, so much suffering from cancer,” he said. “There’s no way I can’t get back out there.”
For Del Percio, the attention the walk has brought to Lucy’s story has been invaluable.
“For him to pick us and want to do something like that for our family means a lot to us,” she said. “He’s really become a great friend and like family now.”
To donate to Lucy and her family, visit Francine Scherma-Pagliorola’s GoFundMe page titled “Please help Lucy and her family.”
