‘She’s an inspiration’: Rockford woman brings joy to young adults with cancer

ROCKFORD, Ill. (WTVO) — A woman known around the Rockford area is being recognized for her dedication to granting young adults with cancer their wishes.

The Founder of the Nikolas Ritschel Foundation, better known as Nik’s Wish, Kelli Ritschel Boehle started granting young adults their wishes after her son died of a rare form of cancer.

“The one thing that put a smile back on his face was a wish from Make-A-Wish,” said Ritschel Boehle.

Make-A-Wish Foundation grants wishes to seriously ill children up to age 17, which leaves young adults out of the equation.

While at the National Institute of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, her son met Nate, an 18-year-old who also was seriously ill and became Nik’s friend.

“I can still hear him busting through the door at the Children’s Inn, ‘Mom, Mom, we gotta do something. Nate missed out on Make-A-Wish. We gotta help.’ At the time, I was trying to save his life,” Ritschel Boehle explained.

The night before Nik passed away, he asked his mom to help other young people with cancer have a wish too. With the help of family and friends, Nik’s Wish was born.

“We raised enough for five wishes. And the very first wish was Nate’s,” said Ritschel Boehle. “That was 370 wishes ago.”

“She’s an inspiration. Not just to me. Not to just her friends or the volunteers, but I think she’s an inspiration to the Rockford community,” said Nik’s Wish volunteer Jim Egan.

For the past 13 years, Kelli and a team of dedicated volunteers have been fulfilling Nik’s wish. The foundation has brought joy to patients in 38 states.

“How she does it, to be the executive director of Nik’s Wish, as well as working a full-time job as an upper-level manager in the private sector. How she does all that. She claims she sleeps but I have no idea when,” said Nik’s Wish Volunteer Brian Lyngaas.

The Nik’s Wish founder said granting wishes to young adults and seeing the happiness they bring reminds her that Nik’s idea was a great one.

“I told you, Mom! And he was right, you know,” Ritschel Boehle continued. “In the beginning, I did this because Nik asked me. But now I do it because of why Nik asked me. He knew that they needed hope.”

To learn more about the Nikolas Ritschel Foundation, visit its website.