‘St. Nick’ visits Elizabethtown

ELIZABETHTOWN – “There’s a hospital in America where the healing person you meet may not be a doctor or a nurse, but a welcoming stranger. Making a connection with every patient and their family. A shining beacon of what is possible in so many lives. ABC’s David Muir now and the man who is ‘America Strong’” said Diane Sawyer of ABC News when she introduced their “America Strong” segment and the star that night, Nick Medley.

According to Muir, Medley gives out about 1300 hugs a day to patients who are entering Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. Elizabethtown resident Nicky Leinwand was one of those who was encouraged by a hug and a word as he entered that hospital for cancer treatment over five years ago.

So impressed by this man who encouraged him during the 17 visits he had to make to MSK Cancer Center, he wanted to do something special for Medley. It just so happens that Medley who is so emotionally spent in this ministry of encouragement each and every day of his life, he says that he likes to walk and find places on the water where he can just go and meditate and pray.

Leinwand who can never do enough for others in need, offered his ocean cottage in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina as a possible place where Medley could get away, rest, relax and recharge his batteries before the next chapter of bringing hope to cancer patients who were walking in fear.

“I was scared,” Leinwand said. “I walked into this overwhelming place where the only reason for the massive amount of people being there was cancer. Just the name alone brings chills. I walked in and I felt alone. I didn’t know anybody and then and this man gave me something that money could never buy. He encouraged me and brought me hope. And it was enough to calm the fear. When he looked at me and locked eyes and told me I was going to be all right, something inside of me believed him. Today I am, as he said. All right and cancer free.”

Although Leinwand had put the offer on the table to utilize his ocean getaway multiple times, Medley had always graciously declined but left the door open as to a “maybe one day I’ll take you up on that.”

The “one day” finally came as a few weeks ago, Leinwand received a call from Medley asking if the offer was still valid. With a few logistical obstacles removed, Medley, his brother and sister-in-law all came to South Carolina. Leinwand, who wanted to go the extra mile invited him up to Elizabethtown with the hope that Medley could bring some of his healing encouragement to some of the people fighting cancer in Bladen County.

Thursday the Medley family took time out of very busy schedules and out of the time to rest and relax and came to minister to a small group of people at Leinwand’s store where the original ABC video was set up for those in attendance to view before both Leinwand and Medley had a chance to speak.

There were also homemade cookies, beverages and catered in “all the way” hamburgers from Melvins’.

As the video was beginning to play for the group of those gathered, tears began to appear and it amazed the locals that the man who was being featured in the network news feature was standing among them. In the back. Not desiring in any, way, shape or form any notoriety or accolade.

Medley is a humble man who was told by his grandmother at an early age about the calling on his life to be an encouragement. To be a carrier of hope. To offer caring arms to those who felt alone and ravaged by fear.

The video ends as people begin to wipe their eyes and Nick or “Nicky” as those that know him lovingly call him moves from a background position to the forefront and his presence commands awe and respect.

“I know for a fact that when you are going through a journey of battling cancer, you know how hard it can be,” Medley said. “Not only for the person who is going through it, but also for the families. Where I come goes back to a teaching my mother gave me when she said, ‘If it’s not sincere, it does not work.’”

His words became as a healing balm to those listening and the hope that comes from his heart is almost overwhelming. Almost.

“A few years ago, I used to love just sitting in the kitchen and talking to my grandmother,” he said. “At that time, she had 15 grandchildren and I was like the third oldest. It was just something about her spirit that I could just talk to her for hours. When I was 8 or 9 years old, I was in the kitchen, she was cookin’ and I was just sitting down and she said, ‘I want to tell you something. You don’t know who you really are, do you?’ I then responded that my name was Nicky.”

She then told him that he was an old soul to which he replied, “no, you old.”

Everyone laughed at his candor and his transparency.

“She said, no, baby, that’s not what I mean,” he described the moment. “’You have something that I see in you that you don’t understand now, but you will.’ She told me that I was going to give people hope and healing and you won’t have to worry about how you’re going to do it because God has you. That’s your purpose and that’s why He placed you there.”

He allowed the wisdom of his bloodline to speak into his heart and into his life and he received it as a mantle of her love for his future.

“I see so many cases a day and I see the struggles,” he said. “I see the pain and the suffering, but you know what? I’m going to give you that hope and I am going to give it to you whether you want it or not. And that’s what I said in that (ABC) story. For those who are going through ‘life’ through the battle of not just cancer, but anything, just know that you’re not alone. There is hope in every thing. It’s just that you have to find the reason to fight. To live. To believe. And to get through whatever you have to get through.”

He also talked openly about Leinwand and you could see the strong bond of friendship that was forged in that crucible of fear and pain.

“When I first me this man,” he said. “There was something about his spirit. And I saw what he was going through and when I found out how far he was traveling, we got to know each other and just built that bond together. I told him that he would be fine and just look at him now.”

It’s the genuine that Medley’s mother spoke of mixed with knowing that what has been placed in you to give to others that makes the difference in the lives of others. If all Medley was giving out was a smile and a Coke, it may be nice, but his power comes in the genuine working through him.

The paying it forward comes when the fruit doesn’t fall far from the tree and all of a sudden Leinwand has gathered people in his little shop that also need a touch. They also need to believe. Their battle against cancer feels as if reinforcements have come to stand with you to fight in the battle.

“There’s a lady that I know who has been in stage 4 cancer since 1989,” he said. “I remember meeting her for the first time she walked through those doors of Sloan Kettering. She was in tears. I said, Mam, my name is Nick and I don’t know where this is coming from but I need to hug you because I know you are going to be all right. She’s still coming for CAT scans and she’s doing fine. This is something I can’t put my hand on but it’s through my heart and my spirit what my grandmother told me and I just trust that. I don’t do it for the attention. I don’t do it for accolades. It is what I feel I’ve been placed here to do.”

Medley’s official title at MKS Cancer Center is “guest services representative,” although many wonder why the wings aren’t visible. To some he’s an angel. To some he’s a hero. To some he’s a lifelong friend. He has even been called “St. Nick” by some of those who have met him. It brings a whole new meaning to “I heard the bells on Christmas Day” when they have a declared victory over cancer.

“I see them come in often, by themselves,” he said. “And that’s where a lot of times I approach them and the feeling is that they don’t want to be a burden or they don’t want anyone to see what they are going through because I don’t want to be the reason someone else worries.”

The meeting. The talking. The ministry. The emotions of each specific case. It happens every day.

For every miracle story, there are also heartbreaking stories and times when Medley is the one that literally walks them to that door, hugs them and is the last one to say “goodbye.” That in itself is an incredibly hard ministry but one that God entrusts only to the strong who can stand and watch them leave this world.

Medley tells the story of a man who reached out to him while in hospice. The two men had created a strong bond and with tears, Medley recounts the last moments that he would ever hear this man’s voice again.

“His son called me and told me that his dad wanted to speak with me one more time,” he said. “He’s in hospice and he wants to hear your voice for the last time. He wants to thank you because you took away not only the fear of the transition, but you gave him hope to fight.”

In scripture, Jesus said in Luke 13:32, “I do cures…”

In turn, Medley knows that he brings the medicine. To fight the pain. To fight the fear. To give peace to pass all human understanding and to bring hope to transcend life itself. Even if those are final moments.

After pursuing a degree in theatrical arts in New York, he wandered until he found the path that led to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. It was there he found his door and after 25 years, he is convinced that he is not soon going anywhere else.

Leinwand was also one of the millions that found the path to that door and found the man sent to take them through the transition. It’s changed Medley. It’s changed Leinwand. It’s changed millions. The crush of cancer is brutal – but the hugs of hope are divine.

For a link to the ABC special “American Strong – Nicky the Hugger” please visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YX69Nn3DmfI&t=107s