Grant D.

When you’ve cheated death as many times as Grant D., Seibert, CO, has, finding an adrenaline rush can be difficult. The former college athlete is in the midst of treating his fifth recurrence of cancer, and he’s still two years shy of 40. In the course of his four-year-long treatment for sarcoma (bone cancer), he’s gone through multiple rounds of intense chemotherapy, several surgeries — including a below-the-knee amputation of his left leg, many radiation treatments and too many tests, pokes and prods to count. There’s no doubt, Grant is built stronger than most, so it’s no surprise when he says, “In my position, you look for adrenaline rushes if you can because you’re really not scared of anything. But when you're an amputee, it kind of limits your options. That’s where skydiving came in.”

On July 28, Grant took his second sky diving outing — just a month after his latest cancer surgery and while still in active treatment. This time, he had with him a member of his care team from HCA HealthONE Presbyterian St. Luke's, Program Manager/Nurse Navigator Mary McCormick, RN, BSN. Mary has been working with Grant since his stage IV sarcoma diagnosis in 2020. But on that day, she wasn’t there to provide medical care or even emotional support. In fact, in a role reversal of sorts, Grant had the sky diving experience and Mary was the novice. In this setting, he was the one to offer support and encouragement. “Grant is such a genuine, kind individual with a sweet soul. He was there coaching me to not look down and to not be afraid,” Mary recalls. “It was an incredible experience.”

The idea of sky diving together came up during one of Mary and Grant’s regular conversations. As Grant’s nurse navigator, Mary was in regular contact with him throughout his treatment. “The nurse navigator role is to eliminate any barriers that cancer patients don’t even think might come up — or resources they may need,” Mary explains. “We also educate them through the process and help coordinate care throughout the treatment plan.” When navigating a long-time patient’s care, like Grant’s, Mary notes that a unique relationship is forged, and a deeper level friendship is often born.

 “It’s like being a nurse but also a counselor at times. Conversations with patients going through cancer journeys are often more real and raw,” she details.

Grant recalls one conversation with Mary from 2021, “I guess the worst or the biggest conversation we had was when they were still determining whether they were going to cut off my leg or not. Nobody had told me yet. So, she called me, and I could tell it was hard on her too. But I told her not to feel bad because I knew it was coming and I'm glad that she was the one who actually told me. But you could tell she genuinely felt for me. Some of our conversations could be an hour, some could be text messages.”

With that level of comfort and authenticity, conversations between the two are easy but often go deep, quickly. Mary shares, “One day [in early 2024] we were at the hospital together and sat catching up after an event. We got to talking about life and our bucket lists and what we want to do in our lifetime. I shared that I had sky diving on my bucket list and Grant told me that he’d done it the year prior and just said, ‘let’s do it!’”

The plan was made, but Grant had an upcoming treatment of chemo and surgery to get through and recover from, so the date wasn’t set.

Later in the year, Mary reached out to Grant, “I called him to talk about coming to an annual event we host for our patients, and he told me he’d be there, but he added ‘When are we going to sky dive?’” After looking at a calendar, Mary knew just the right time that would allow Grant time to heal and be perfect timing to celebrate his strength in fighting cancer: July — Sarcoma Awareness Month.

“It felt like this was my celebration to Grant for getting through another treatment. If you can fight cancer like you have, I can go skydiving,” Mary reveals.

Mary brought her son (who is headed to college in a few weeks) and Grant brought his sister-in-law with whom he did his first sky dive. Mary and her son both wore “Live Like Kaydee” stickers — a nod to a young patient who bravely fought sarcoma and whose family encourages people to live out their bucket list wishes in her honor through a non-profit foundation, “Project Sol Flower.”  The foundation was created in Kaydee’s memory for young patients experiencing cancer or life-limiting illness.  

While Grant’s battle with cancer is not through, Mary points out that he is not putting his life on hold. Instead, he continues to live his best life, even with cancer. “Not a lot of people know about sarcoma, and unfortunately it affects a lot of young patients, high school age through 25. Grant is an incredible example of a fighter with an incredible outlook and resiliency. It was an honor to have him with me as I took a literal leap of faith to sky dive the way he often has taken leap of faiths with his care team. He’s braver and stronger than most, and it’s an inspiration for sure.”