Even in death, teenager inspires charity
Community honors late Scottsdale teen for courageousness

By Claudia I. Provencio, The Catholic Sun
November 16, 2006

When Nicky Mailliard — a blonde-haired teenager known for his smile and steadfast faith in God — lost his four-year battle with brain cancer in 2005, his parents hoped his death would give life to a legacy of giving.

Listed on a classmate’s MySpace.com page as her “hero,” it would seem that the late Pope John XXIII student continues to motivate others to embrace the Christian virtues he embodied.

A year after the Scottsdale teen’s death, the 13-year-old has inspired fundraisers, school memorials and scholarships in his honor.

“Nicky’s Week,” fundraisers held at various Ra Sushi Bars nationwide, raised more than $77,000 for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn., one of the primary hospitals where the teenager was treated.

Rich Howland, Nicky’s uncle and one of the founders of the sushi restaurant chain, helped launch the fundraiser. It is now in its second year and strives to raise community awareness of the hospital. In all, the week has generated more than $150,000 in honor of Nicky’s fight.

“When Nick was starting to get weak and he couldn’t walk up and down the stairs, I used to carry him. He’d say, ‘Uncle Rich, maybe you can help me get stronger.’ But it’s really Nick who made us all stronger and made us realize the value of life,” Howland said.

Nicky never complained even after losing his vision and his ability to walk. He also further impressed Howland because Nicky allowed St. Jude doctors to test new research drugs on him in the hopes that he could spare another child from the pain he endured each day.

It was this quality of humility that prompted 25 Pope John XXIII families to install a memorial in the teenager’s honor at the school.

“It is a relatively new school and Nicky had been there since it opened,” said Joe Forster, one of the memorial organizers whose son was among Nicky’s friends.

“He had a great charisma. He was big in size, but like a teddy bear. No matter what the circumstance or situation, he was mature in all ways and a great role model,” he said. 

“He could play Legos with the little kids and then go out and play basketball with the big boys, and then sit in a room full of adults and have a conversation about just about anything,” Forster added.

To find a suitable tribute, the families worked with an architect who found the perfect solution in Italy — a bronze statue of Jesus with two children at His side.

Placed at the school gates, the memorial serves as a physical reminder of Jesus’ welcoming arms and a schoolmate who was called into that embrace all too soon.

“We all say or think Nicky would have become a priest,” Forster said. “He had a strength, a will and a faith far beyond all of us. I think he genuinely believed there was a plan and he was going to a better place.”

Nicky, who maintained a 4.0 GPA throughout his illness and who loved basketball, swimming and reading, was also honored posthumously by the Boy Scouts of America with its “Spirit of the Eagle Award.”

The award recognizes the impact the Scouting program made in the young person’s life and serves as a final tribute to the departed.

Dale Lewis, committee chairman of Troup 818, which is chartered by St. Bernadette Parish in Scottsdale, said this is the first time anyone in the Grand Canyon Council has been presented the award.

“It was emotional for both the family and for myself. We tried to make it a celebration, but it’s tough to think of Nicky and not feel sad at his loss,” Lewis said of the teenager who served the troop as a chaplain aide.

The Mailliard family also plans to establish a scholarship in their son’s name at Pope John XXIII and has established a fund with the Catholic Community Foundation.

“Although Nicky’s death remains a difficult and raw emotion for our family, and especially me as his mother, I see these tributes to him as vessels that help with healing,” said his mother, Lisa Mailliard.

“Such honors show us that his life, which appeared would be a promising one that could have contributed so well to society, was not in vain… but has taught us of the ultimate meaning that what is yet to come will be even greater and better than this world,” she said.