Traer firefighter Nick Riley (back right) pictured with his family including wife Sami (back left) and children Karrington (left) and Karter (right) at Fox Ridge Winery in rural Traer. –Photo courtesy of Sami Riley

Members of the tightknit Traer Fire community have mobilized quickly in recent days to help one of their own – firefighter and young father Nick Riley, 44 – as he undergoes the fight of his life against Stage 4 pancreatic cancer.

Last Sunday, June 5, as the department was working northeast of Traer on a controlled morning burn at a rural acreage, Traer firefighter Marvin Boldt’s young granddaughters Emily Cochran, Hayden Boldt, and Addison Boldt, along with their friends Makinley and Lincoln Pick and Aniston and Raelynn Cooper were equally busy out front of the fire station selling homemade lemonade and popcorn in an effort to ‘Fill the Boot’ for Nick.

Under the watchful eye of Boldt’s daughter, Traer EMS volunteer Rachelle Cochran and mother to Emily, the girls raised in excess of $1,000.00 – more than filling the boot – for Nick and his young family which includes wife Sami, daughter Karrington, a rising 7th grader, and son Karter, a rising 5th grader. Both Riley children attend North Tama Schools.

“Nick Riley has proudly served on the Traer Fire Department for 15 years and is the current Past President of the Iowa Firefighters Association,” Traer Fire posted on their Facebook page on May 10. “Nick’s dedication and leadership has always been and is immeasurable. Now is our time to help carry him through his difficult journey!”

In addition to the ‘Fill the Boot’ campaign – which is still accepting donations via Venmo @Jill-pick-1 – the department is also holding a fundraiser at Fox Ridge Winery (1465 L Avenue, rural Traer) on Friday, June 10, beginning at 6:00 p.m. The benefit will include a live and silent auction which starts at 8:00 p.m., as well as a free-will dinner.

North Tama first grader Addison Boldt (second from left) smiles in front of the Traer Fire Station on Sunday, June 5, while holding a sign in support of firefighter Nick Riley. Boldt’s grandfather Marvin Boldt serves alongside Riley in the volunteer department. Also pictured TMakinley Pick (left), Lincoln Pick, Hayden Boldt, and Emily Cochran. The girls’ lemonade stand on Sunday raised more than $1,000.00 for the Riley family, including a $100 match from Marvin Boldt. –Photo by Ruby F. Boeker

For those that cannot make the benefit at Fox Ridge, monetary donations can also be mailed to or dropped off at Farmers Savings Bank, 611 Second Street, Traer, IA 50675, earmarked for Nick Riley. Or Venmo Sami Riley @Samantha-Riley-36.

Nick’s Story

Pancreatic cancer is an extremely difficult cancer to diagnose early as the pancreas is located deep inside the body, meaning early tumors cannot be seen nor felt during routine physical exams.

Those diagnosed with pancreatic cancer more often than not usually have no symptoms until the cancer has become very large or spread to other organs – this is, unfortunately, the way Nick’s cancer fight has progressed.

Through an online CaringBridge Journal, Nick’s wife Sami has been documenting her husband’s cancer fight in pragmatic prose – her words a reminder that not only is Nick in the trenches, but the entire young Riley family is, too.

A group of local children including (l-r) Lincoln Pick, Emily Cochran, Hayden Boldt, Makinley Pick, and Addison Boldt smile from behind the lemonade stand they set up in front of the Traer Fire Station on Sunday, June 5, in support of Traer firefighter Nick Riley who was recently diagnosed with Stage 4 pancreatic cancer. –Photo by Ruby F. Bodeker

“In April 2021, Nick had an unexplained episode of acute pancreatitis and was hospitalized for a couple days,” Sami wrote in the journal. “At that time he had CT scans that were clear and it was thought that possibly a gallstone had caused the pancreatitis.”

Nick felt great until April of this year, Sami said, until he suddenly began to experience back pain for which he sought chiropractic care. Abdominal pain soon joined the back pain – resembling last year’s episode of pancreatitis.

A visit to his primary care physician finally gave Nick the answers he needed, just not the answers anyone was expecting.

Sami recalled the diagnosis in her journal: “A CT scan was ordered and the results were devastating. On April 26, Nick was diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer.”

Since the diagnosis, Riley has been under the care of Dr. Rahim at Unity Point Community Cancer Center in Waterloo. A liver biopsy ordered by Dr. Rahim on April 28 showed the cancer had metastasized (spread) beyond the pancreas.

PHOTO BY RUBY F. BODEKER

“Dr. Rahim did confirm our biggest fear of stage 4 pancreatic cancer,” Sami wrote of a May 3 visit. “The next portion of the conversation was the hardest to hear. Nick’s cancer is not operable. There is no cure. Treatment will only be palliative. Meaning it will just be to give Nick more time. I can only speak for myself, as his wife, I could literally feel my heart break in that moment.”

Riley is currently undergoing chemotherapy treatment every two weeks as the tumors continue to grow.

“[We] learned that in the week between [Nick’s] diagnosis and when chemotherapy officially started his tumor markers had increased,” Sami wrote recently. “This is one of the reasons why pancreatic cancer is so deadly. It is an aggressive cancer that grows quickly. Unfortunately, there are not many signs until the cancer has already grown and spread to other organs (stage 4) and there is no screening that can be done to detect pancreatic cancer in early stages.”

Sami went on to write that Riley’s CT scan last April showed zero evidence of cancer but in just a year’s time the “monster grew and spread.”

The journey ahead

Nick Riley (second from right) and his family Sami (left), Kerrington (back, second from left), and Karter (far right) pose for a picture on Sunday, June 5, in the Traer Fire Station with Hayden Boldt (front left) and Emily Cochran (center). Boldt and Cochran’s lemonade fundraiser raised $1,052.00 for Nick’s fight against pancreatic cancer. -Photo courtesy Rachelle Cochran

Being the parents to two young children with busy summer lives has kept the Riley family on their toes even in the face of Nick’s diagnosis.

Through her CaringBridge Journal entries, Sami has documented a family trip to the musical Hamilton in Des Moines, Karter’s baseball games – for which Nick volunteered as a base umpire during a recent game, a dance recital for Karrington, a trip to Minnesota for Karter’s hockey tournament, a trip to Wisconsin to attend a graduation, among other activities.

“Just like Nick asked, we continue to live our normal family life but I still feel an urgency to fit as many memories in as we can,” Sami wrote.

Asked by the Telegraph to describe Nick for those who don’t know him, Sami referred to her journal. In one journal entry she wrote, “Nick is an amazing man who has given much of himself to others in his community and around the state as a volunteer firefighter and serving as the Iowa Firefighters Association President last year. Firefighters are his family and he is their family. When his fellow firemen learned of his diagnosis they went to work.”

“Today, some kiddos in town held a lemonade stand at the [Traer] Fire Department to support Nick. It truly was the sweetest thing and we both were speechless. … This is not just Nick’s fight. It is going to take an army!”

In one of Sami’s earliest journal entries, she wrote of her husband, “[Nick] truly believes that the prognosis he was given is just an average. Someone has to be the 1 [percent] and if anyone can be that 1 [percent] it will be him.”

Follow the Traer Fire Department Facebook page for continuing ways to support Nick Riley and his family.