When Tom Boardman learned that his twelve-year-old grandson, Levi, was diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma cancer, he wanted to step in and take the pain away. Family and friends of sarcoma patients know this feeling well. “I could not take the chemo for my grandson. Neither could I have the surgery he was going to need or go through all the tests,” Tom says. But he knew there were other ways to make a meaningful difference. “I found RIS, and I said, This is it—I’m going to get involved, for Levi and for others like him.”
My motivation has been my grandson, his future, and the futures of all sarcoma patients. So little is known of these ‘orphan’ cancers that it takes a real special and focused effort to draw attention to them. Successfully achieving that gives me hope for the future.
Tom Boardman, RIS Volunteer
Read the list of volunteer activities in his bio and you would think he was a full-time volunteer, chair, and board member! But Tom is actually an attorney, retired in 2010 from in-house counsel at 3M after thirty-seven years, and currently working at the law firm Barnes and Thornburg. He is also an active exerciser through Liftbridge CrossFit and travels extensively (he has visited all fifty states and over fifty countries!).Tom and his wife, Susie, have been married nearly forty-eight years. They cherish time with family (four children and eleven grandchildren) and enjoy traveling together.
Rein in Sarcoma is grateful for Tom and all of our volunteers who dedicate their passion and time to supporting families, educating the medical community, and raising funds for research to find a cure for sarcoma cancers.
