HELPING CHILDREN IN NEED

A long-term, chronic illness and immune deficiency has not stopped Amy Nichols, a strategic communications major at Wichita State University, from taking risks, experiencing life to its fullest and helping kids just like her. "It allows me to be creative and use my God-given talents," she said.

Nichols came to Wichita from Manhattan, Kan. While Kansas State University was closer to home, Nichols said WSU had a more personal feel.  For that reason, she joined the Student Ambassador Society to show future college students how it is better to be recognized as a student and not a statistic.

During the fall 2009 semester, Nichols attended Texas A&M University through the National Student Exchange program. The program allows students to pay WSU tuition and receive WSU college credit while studying at a participating university. Nichols participated in NSE because she wanted to become a better ambassador for WSU, and she'd never been given the opportunity to take a risk or do something exciting because of her illness. 

Amy suffers from chronic recurrent Osteomyelitis of the left femur, an inflammatory disorder that affects the growing region of long bones. She was also born without a functioning immune system, and one in 500,000 children suffer from this rare disorder. Untreated, most don't live past the age of 4.

At 10 years of age, Nichols was finally diagnosed with the immune deficiency and was given a death sentence. After surviving, she was told she would never walk or run again. She has endured 13 surgeries on her leg for a bone marrow infection and is currently in remission.

Learning to walk and run again seems like a daunting task to most of us, but not to Amy. Her arms and legs would swing "right-right, left-left," but through personal dedication she taught herself, and she even joined the track team in high school.

Amy’s purpose has always stayed the same: Help children.

At WSU, Nichols is the philanthropy chair for Delta Delta Delta sorority. She had the opportunity to visit the sorority's charity, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, in Memphis, TN. What she witnessed made her aware of how to better impact people and convince them to donate to the hospital. "(It) became the passion for my life," she said. "I hope to someday work full time for a nonprofit to help critically ill children."

As a marketing communication intern for Ronald McDonald House Charities® Wichita (RMHC Wichita), she is gaining valuable experience.

"I'm working on their social media," Nichols said, which includes Facebook, Twitter and updating their Web site. “I also contribute to the event planning and help in all of the different communication platforms that they use to spread the message about RMHC Wichita.

I really believe in their mission of giving parents a place to stay to be close to their child," she said. “In every child we serve, I see a piece of my battle in their eyes.  I feel that RMHC Wichita is a perfect fit for me. The longer I am in communications and working for non-profits, I realize that I couldn’t imagine doing anything else.”

Nichols said her experiences made her who she is today, a fighter. “My scars are a constant reminder of how far I’ve come in life.

When you're told at 10 you're going to die, you think about life much differently," she said. "I see every day as a gift."

The little things about life mean a lot to her, she said, like the sunset. "Because at one point I didn’t know if I'd get to see another one."