Mom, Caretaker, and Advocate: Celebrating Pediatric Cancer Awareness Month with Erin Nahorny

In this episode Ali and Alyssa had the honor of interviewing Erin Nahorny, the mom of Sammy, a now 12 year old, who was diagnosed with neuroblastoma at the age of 4. She shared with us what it was like to find out that Sam had neuroblastoma, what his journey looked like and how she and their family all came out the other side. She also told us about the foundation that she helped start which is giving money each year to further research in childhood cancers. 

Erin Nahorny is a busy wife to Chris and mama to Ella (16), Sam (12) and Jacob (9). She is a passionate advocate for childhood cancer awareness and funding. People who know her would describe her as motivated, hard-working and passionate about what is important to her. 

Erin grew up in Columbus, NE and returned to the area in 2005, when her husband, Chris, began working for her family’s business. Erin completed her education with a Master’s degree in Counseling Psychology from Doane College. She worked in the social services industry for 15 years, but left her position as the Children’s Services Director at the Center for Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence Survivors when her son, Sammy, was diagnosed with Stage 4, High-Risk Neuroblastoma, a type of childhood cancer, in 2012. For several years following Sam’s diagnosis, Erin made caring for Sammy and her family her #1 priority.

In 2013, Erin, Chris and a group of close friends founded Sammy’s Superheroes Foundation, a non-profit organization supporting childhood cancer awareness and research. To date, the all volunteer foundation has funded over $1,000,000 in research grants to hospitals all over the country. 

In 2017, Erin began to consider returning to a career of service, but didn’t feel the same passion to continue her career in social services. After much soul-searching, Erin decided a complete change of career was in the cards and she began studying real estate. She found a great balance between her love of helping others through her work with the foundation and helping families navigating the difficult path of childhood cancer and also having her own career. 

Outside of Sammy’s Superheroes, Erin has been actively involved in various volunteer and non-profit entities for many years. She has worked with the American Red Cross as a Critical Incident Stress Management/Debriefing therapist. She worked with the grief support program, Mourning Hope, as a group facilitator and served on their Board of Directors. She was the Chair for her local United Way's “Kids for Change” Campaign. She is a member of St. Isidore’s Catholic Church and loves to volunteer at her children’s school.

To connect with Erin or find out more about Sammy's Superheroes visit them on

Facebook at:

https://www.facebook.com/SammysSuperheroes/

and on 

Instagram @sammys_superheroes

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