Student launches charity for melanoma research

Freshman Cole Winarick is, in some ways, like many other students—he likes to surf, snowboard and spend time with his family, who live in South Jersey. But Winarick has also accomplished more in his first year at the university than most. He started his own foundation, called Patient 9, to raise money for cancer research.

Three years ago, Winarick's father, Ron, was diagnosed with skin cancer after doctors found traces of the cancer in his blood stream. Soon, the cancer spread to his chest and lungs. Some of the cancer was removed with minor surgery, but six months later, doctors diagnosed Winarick's father with malignant melanoma, and said he only had two years to live.

"I felt lied to," Winarick said.

It was something Winarick and his family could not have anticipated. What had started out as an ordinary birthmark on his father's stomach turned out to be a life-threatening illness.

In a short period of time, the cancer spread rapidly throughout his father's chest, stomach and then his lungs. The tumors were considered inoperable because they were too large and risky for doctors to work on.    

After researching melanoma, the Winarick family discovered there is scarce funding available for melanoma research in comparison to other forms of cancer. They enrolled Ron in a new, yearlong experimental treatment at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. He was their ninth patient.

"It was kind of like, cross our fingers and hope it works," Winarick said.

Though his father initially seemed to be doing well with treatment, his liver soon failed, and he was no longer able to participate in the treatment, though the potent medicine continued to fight tumors in his body. However, in September, scans showed evidence of brain cancer, which affected his motor control, balance and coordination, and brought the total to nine malignant tumors in his body.

It was this string of events that led Winarick to start his own nonprofit foundation to spread awareness and raise money for melanoma skin cancer research. He suitably named it the Patient 9 Foundation.

While many of his friends were spending their first month at school adapting to college life, Winarick was busy developing the idea of Patient 9. He used other local non-profit foundations, such as the B+ Foundation, which raises money for cancer research and critically ill children, as models for Patient 9.

Winarick worked with the Delaware Community Foundation, which manages charitable funds for individuals, families and organizations, and distributes income from the funds as grants to various entities throughout Delaware.

He hopes Patient 9 will soon be successful enough to become its own independent foundation. Currently, Patient 9 is still a part of the Delaware Community Foundation and is only donating 1 percent of its funds to melanoma skin cancer research.

"We're trying to save up money until we can get a huge chunk and donate it all together," Winarick said. "Three hundred dollars a year isn't really going to do anything but $200,000 will."

When the day came for Winarick to sign the final paperwork, he was surrounded with overwhelming support from his family, who surprised him by joining him at the signing.

As he signed the papers, both his parents began to cry, Winarick said.

"They're so proud," he said. "Proud is an understatement."

Winarick said he was shocked by how many people around him were more than willing to help, including his brothers in the fraternity Sigma Chi, which he had recently joined.

Freshman Billy Nick met Winarick while they both were pledging Sigma Chi. He said they discussed Patient 9 during a conversation one night.

"He said that he would drop everything for Patient 9," Nick said. "He said he would drop out of school. Whatever it takes to get Patient 9 big, Cole will do."

Now, Winarick has an entire committee in his fraternity to help him plan and oversee his first Patient 9 fundraising event, a Sigma Chi alumni golf outing on April 17. Winarick said his Sigma Chi brothers have come to speeches he has given on campus and are already seeking sponsors and donations.

"They're doing so many things without me asking," he said.

His fraternity brother, freshman Will Graves, filmed a speech that Winarick gave on campus about Patient 9 in order to post the speech on the website.

"I've just been doing small things to help Cole," Graves said. "I know how bad he wants to help his father, and I know his goal is to have Patient 9 take off, and I will do whatever I can to help Cole achieve that goal."

Winarick said Patient 9 has received national support. People in other states and at other universities who have been touched by his story have reached out to Winarick through e-mail, Facebook and the Patient 9 website.

"I don't want this to just stay in Delaware," Winarick said. "I want everybody to know about this."

By sharing his story of his father's battle with cancer, Winarick hopes it will make his fellow students think twice about skin cancer, in particular tanning, especially on a campus where the nearest tanning bed is just a short walk down Main Street.

"I just want to spread awareness and make people realize that this is real and it can happen just from one time going tanning," he said.