Nathaniel Carpenter Merritt-Mervine was a wonderful human being. He had diverse interests ranging from baseball to performing death metal music. Most of all, he was kind.
A geriatric social worker at Jewish Family Service in Rochester, New York, Nate made a tremendous difference in this world. He was diagnosed with Grade I chondrosarcoma in his foot (first thought to be benign after biopsy at MGH) and had a resection. The chondrosarcoma came back in his foot and Nate became an amputee. Nate, an avid runner, was no longer able to run, but he worked tremendously hard to adapt to his new reality. Then, the chondrosarcoma came back in his lungs and seven years after his diagnosis, at the age of 40, Nate died in his family's home in Cleveland surrounded by the love of his family.
Chondrosarcoma was debilitating and Nate often felt alone in his diagnosis. He lived to see the first Race to Cure Sarcoma in Cleveland and was touched to be surrounded by the love and support of the team from the Cleveland Clinic who assumed his care and tried to move mountains when the chondrosarcoma spread. Nate's Team Crush Chondrosarcoma continues on in his memory. Won't you join us?
