By:Scott Brinton
The headaches were so excruciating that John Theissen felt as though a drill were ripping through his head. And that's pretty much what happened to him in 1988, when he was just 17. It wasn't a drill, of course, but an aggressive brain tumor that started in his pituitary gland and ate a hole through his skull.
Today Theissen is 33, and a living miracle. He is married and has a son. And in every sense, he's a survivor, having channeled his pain into doing enormous good for Long Island children.
In 1992, with no money but lots of heart, the Wantagh native founded Toys for Sick Children, which is now the non-profit John Theissen Children's Foundation. The organization collects toys for poor children who are hospitalized because of life-threatening illnesses. He began the effort out of his parents' ruddy-red split-level in Wantagh. On the front lawn, he put out a few handmade signs and a bunch of balloons, and asked people to donate toys to his fledgling campaign. That year he collected 800 toys, which were distributed at three Island hospitals.
Today the organization annually takes in some 55,000 toys, which go to 183 hospitals and medical centers, and operates with a $1.2 million budget, 97 percent of which goes directly to children. "I still don't realize how big it's gotten," Theissen said last Friday as he sat in his basement office at the back of a Wantagh ranch house.
A host of South Shore school districts take part in the toy drive each year, including Baldwin, Bellmore, North Bellmore, Franklin Square and Valley Stream, as well as Girl Scout troops in East Meadow. This year, Kennedy High School in Bellmore is involved as well. The campaign benefits several area hospitals, including Long Beach Hospital, Mercy Medical Center in Rockville Centre, Nassau University Medical Center in East Meadow and South Nassau Communities Hospital in Oceanside.
Theissen recently left his full-time job as a medical-supplies salesman to serve as executive director of the foundation that bears his name, giving him more time to raise money and collect toys. His wife and elementary-school sweetheart, Heather, said, "My husband works so hard. He's an excellent fund-raiser. He knows how to raise a lot of money, and it all goes to such a good cause. He works round-the-clock."
Theissen receives major support from WBAB, Friendly's Long Island and Local 338 RWDSM, a supermarket workers union, as well as from members of the New York Jets, Giants, Islanders and Mets. Still, much of his fund-raising remains grass-roots. He goes from one small organization to the next, seeking toy and money donations. Theissen pitched his campaign to the North Bellmore PTA Council at its October meeting. His no-pressure manner charmed the audience of PTA leaders, who agreed they'd help any way they could.
One mother, who was involved in the toy drive last year, testified about how effective Theissen's organization is. Several parents noted that the foundation provided a sizable grant to the family of a North Bellmore student, which helped defray living costs while the youngster underwent cancer treatment.
Theissen said he receives fax and e-mail requests for toys from parents of sick children year-round, and without exception he honors them the next day. Whenever he learns of a family that goes without food or necessities because of a child's illness, he does all he can to ensure that its needs are met.
Theissen has done it all to raise money for the foundation. A marathoner, he once ran 155 miles from Newbridge Road Park in Bellmore to Montauk Point in two days. The effort raised $22,000. He has also done a 33-hour bowl-a-thon, sponsored by WBAB. You name it.
This year, Theissen is working with Waldbaum's and Jets kicker Doug Brien. Whenever Brien boots a field goal, the Theissen foundation receives $500 in pledge money.
Subhed: Theissen's inspiration
A 7-year-old girl named Tasha inspired Theissen's effort. In 1988, when Theissen was undergoing treatment at Schneider Children's Hospital in New Hyde Park, he befriended Tasha, who was also a patient. "This little girl was in and out the hospital throughout the year, receiving different treatments for her illness. She received very little family support," Theissen said.
"Tasha was excited about a Christmas party sponsored by the hospital staff, and expected her family to attend," he said. "They unfortunately did not. My family agreed to take her."
Theissen was too sick to go the party. "When Santa asked Tasha what she wanted," he recounted, "she said, 'I'd like a teddy bear for my friend upstairs.' I was that friend. When I got out of the hospital, I wanted to help children just like Tasha."
Subhead: A family effort
Theissen recently expanded his foundation to provide school supplies for poor children. His wife, a third-grade teacher in Jericho, came up with the idea. Before moving to the affluent Jericho district a decade ago, Heather had taught for a year at an impoverished school in south Jamaica, Queens. She regretted leaving, because she said she was helping the students who needed her most, but Jericho offered considerably more money and a stable future.
Heather now serves as president of the Theissen foundation board and is proud of the organization's school-supplies campaign. She also believes deeply in the foundation's mission of providing toys for sick children. "You're always told, 'If you're good, Santa will bring you a toy,'" she said. Without toys at the holidays, children may believe they've done something wrong -- a belief that is only exacerbated by their illness. The Theissens say they don't want any girl or boy to feel that way.
Subhead: Living with illness
Indeed, Theissen's life appears more normal after years of battling cancer. But he still gets scared that the disease might return. A handful of cancer cells, which are controlled with medication, will remain in his brain for life. He takes 10 to 20 pills daily and must go for blood tests every six months. He's frightened at times when the tests show the cancer cells on the rise.
He also suffers from osteoporosis, brought on by low hormones, because most of his pituitary gland was removed. Also because of deficient hormones, a muscle at the base of his esophagus atrophied, allowing acid from his stomach to escape into his throat, causing him enormous pain. The irritation was so great that he had to give up running for a time, and he has only gotten back into it recently, after surgery and medication brought the reflux disease under control. As if all that weren't enough, he has had a benign tumor in the heel of his foot.
Most of all, Theissen fears that his son, John Jr., 5, might someday get cancer. When such a thought enters his mind, he repeatedly blesses himself until it goes away.
Despite the hardship, Theissen said he wouldn't change his life even if he could. He strongly believes that "everything happens for a reason," and, he said, "This foundation has been just such a blessing," giving him his life's purpose.
And so many smiles on the faces of Long Island's sick children.
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