ST CHARLES, Mo. — After battling and surviving cancer, David Niermann, a retired engineer, now pays it forward.
Niermann is a volunteer driver for the American Cancer Society's Road to Recovery Program.
The associate director of the American Cancer Society, Jamie Currier, said the Road to Recovery Program provides rides to cancer patients who would otherwise not have transportation to various doctors' appointments.
Niermann's compassionate journey began when he was working as an engineering professor at St. Charles Community College. He said he began to develop alarming symptoms.
"I had trouble sleeping, I was sweating, I had felt cold all the time when it was over 100 degrees outside, I felt like it was 50 degrees." Niermann said. "skin irritation and all kinds of things. I went from one clinic to another."
Niermann learned, after several years, that he had stage four lymphoma.
"My daughter finished her post-doctorate when I was really sick," Niermann said proudly after raising his daughter as a single dad. "She was going to go into private practice in wine country but I was getting sicker and sicker and she left all that to come home and take care of me."
During one of his hospitalizations, Niermann recalls a lonely roommate he had. Although his daughter and many others supported him through his cancer journey, he said nobody ever came to see his roommate.
"He did not have the support that I did. He did not have a caregiver and he didn't even have visitors. Cancer is already such a horrible thing just for the physical things that you go through. It also disrupts relationships, finances, jobs, and careers; to go through all of that and not have support made an impression on me."
Moved by that experience, Niermann promised himself in that hospital bed that if he recovered he would help provide some support to others.
"I wouldn't be here without the support I had," Niermann said. "I retired earlier because I didn't want to miss out on time with my grandkids. I have two grandkids now."
Road to Recovery allows Niermann to meet pick and choose which rides he wants to accept.
Somewhere along the way he accepted a ride to assist Sheri Zambruski, a bone cancer patient, and the pair have formed a friendship.
"We are kind of like a two-person support group, "Niermann said jokingly. "We talk the whole time. So much so that I have missed a turn once in a while because we are so engrossed in a conversation."
Zambruski is in stage three of sarcomas cancer, which means she is in the final stage of this particular cancer.
"I am able to go to all my appointments," Zambruski said. "Unless you've gone through it, you don't understand. He started sharing his experience which was kind and I felt really safe."
Zambruski, speaks highly of Niermann's impact on her. "He's an amazing person. He's just an exceptional human being."
Niermann enjoys volunteering with Road to Recovery.
"I do really believe there is always hope," Niermann said.
Driving cancer patients allows Niermann to make his schedule and meet "incredible people."
In 2023, Currier said this program gave over 1000 rides in the St. Louis market and emphasized that there are still 500 rides they were unable to accommodate due to the shortage of drivers.
"A ride to care is one of the largest barriers our cancer patients face," Currier said. "So they might delay their treatment, they might even cancel some of their appointments, which leads to worse outcomes down the road."
Niermann's journey from cancer survivor to volunteer driver exemplifies the power of resilience and the importance of lending a helping hand to those in need.
If you'd like to sign up to be a volunteer driver in the Road to Recovery program click here.
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