Who is Destiny Nickelsen?
Destiny Nickelsen is a cosplayer.
She is a beautiful young girl with a passion for creativitity, using costume creation and modeling as her outlet. Her family has a history of cancer.
This past week, Destiny learned that she has cancer in a mole on her back. Melanoma, the most dangerous form of skin cancer. According to the World Health Organization, melanoma causes approximately 48,000 deaths worldwide per year. We don't want to add to that statistic.
Melanoma is the most serious type of skin cancer due to its tendency to spread (or metastasize) to lymph nodes and other areas of the body, as compared to the other types of skin cancer.
Destiny Needs Help.
Destiny is not covered by health insurance. This situation compromises her future in a big way. To treat melanoma, she will need to undergo surgery and radiation treatment, and possibily chemotherapy.
Destiny's cancer may already be in the stage II phase. She will soon undergo a biopsy to check depth, and we'll hope for the best. This page will be updated continually, you will know as soon as we know.
This girl works hard. Destiny's income is supplemented by selling cosplay prints in her online store. But without insurance, medical bills are astronomical. Her current estimated treatment costs are $5,000, but they may end up higher. All funds donated to the campaign will go directly to Destiny's bank account.
What You Get:
We're going to bet that you know someone who has been affected by cancer. Maybe it's you. Maybe it's your family. If you know Destiny, it's her.
If you're a fellow "geek" or cosplayer and found yourself in her situation, you would probably welcome a group of supporters willing to help fund your treatment. Positivity and laughter affect the healing process in a big, big way.
Since this is a financial crisis, Destiny doesn't have much to give - tangibly, anyway. She has prints from her cosplay store and can post YouTube videos expressing her personal thanks for your donation.
Other Ways You Can Help
If you cannot contribute financially, sharing this page through your social media channels can help more than you know. Use hashtag
#DesvsCancer and link to this campaign to help spread the word.
If you'd rather, you can buy directly from Destiny's online store. All funds directly benefit her. Alternatively, you could donate to the Melanoma Fund of New England.
Connect with Destiny:
Facebook
Twitter
YouTube
Updates:
Campaign banner graphic by Brad Pilcher. Thanks Brad!
7/23: Huge thanks to all who have donated and shared the page! I have passed all of your private comments on to Destiny and she couldn't be more grateful.
7/23: Destiny has a doctor's appointment (including a full screening to check for other spots) on Monday. I'll update this page afterwards. :) I'm amazed at how quickly this has grown! Thank you.
7/24: Woke up this morning to see that we beat the goal! I am astounded by how quickly people came together for this. Thank you SO much! Here's a post from Destiny regarding upcoming conventions and leftover funds. I'll continue to update this page as we hear more. Not sure what the final bills will be, and we have our fingers crossed for Monday's appointment. Hopefully the moles can be easily removed.
7/29: Destiny went to the doctor today. She will have the full body scan results later this week, but the mole removal will happen next week! :)
9/17: Longtime no update! Sorry about that, guys. I'm still floored that we hit the goal so quickly and people have continued to donate extra. Thank you so much!
Destiny's postponed treatment until after the funds are distributed, due to issues within the family, hence the lack of updates. In a complete coincidence, the funds will hit her account on her birthday tomorrow - a nice surprise, once I realized! I'll continue to update here once there's news. Thank you again for your kindness!
