Inspirational Stories

Cancel blood cancer with web3! Daniel is a 27-year-old lymphoma patient who combined his medical diagnosis and love of digital art into an NFT project supporting The Leukemia & Lymphoma (LLS) patients and their families.

In November 2021, Daniel was diagnosed with stage three nodular sclerosing Hodgkin lymphoma (NSHL). Like so many others during the COVID-19 pandemic, he has been isolated to protect his health and has been unable to work.

“It’s been lonely and hard to keep occupied when you have limited energy,” said Daniel. “Art has been a great stress reliever for me. It was something I used to enjoy doing, but life got in the way. Since my diagnosis, I've been able to slow down and get back to something I love while going through this challenging time.”

With that, “Lil Sicky” was born ― a character inspired by Daniel’s favorite activities, dreams, and childhood memories. Every trait was hand-drawn on an iPad during his chemotherapy treatments and recovery periods. With the help of some web3 friends and a computer algorithm, 5,000 Lil Sickys were then generated! Each Lil Sicky has a random and unique combination of traits, available for purchase on the Ethereum blockchain.

“It started as doodles to pass the time and try to stay positive,” Daniel said. “Then we thought, maybe we can actually do some good with this. Throughout this process, we have heard many touching stories of others who have been affected by cancer in some way. Not only do I look at Lil Sicky as a digital expression of my journey, but I hope it can help support others going through similar challenges and perhaps bring a smile on a day someone might need it the most.”

Daniel’s goal is to raise over 70 Ethereum (over $100K USD) for LLS from the primary sale alone, donating 40% of each Lil Sicky purchase, along with 60% of royalties generated from secondary sales, via The Giving Block.