The Tribune

By FELICITY DARVILLE

FOR Lyndon Sweeting and his wife Terah L Hanna-Sweeting, they could not be more proud of their three children. They are all smart, talented and they aspire to great things in life.

The Sweetings worked hard for their children to have a good education. Nycholas and Nolan, the two elder brothers, graduated from St John’s College. Nycholas attended Shaw University and Nolan attended St Augustine’s University, and they share an apartment together in North Carolina.  Their younger sister Taylor graduates from St John’s in just a few weeks.

This is the point at which Lyndon and Terah should be breaking out the champagne, knowing they did a fine job of raising their children to adulthood. They will be out of the woods with high school fees and hopefully can begin the countdown to the end of college fees, then look forward to seeing all of their children blossom on their own.

But this family took a serious blow when Nolan was diagnosed with a disease that seems to have come out of nowhere and doctors cannot explain, given that there is no family history of the disease.

Nolan Earnel Wade Sweeting is an outstanding achiever. In 2016, he graduated from St John’s as Deputy Head Boy and a member of the school choir, soccer, volleyball and track and field teams. Outside of school, he also ran with Tonique Williams Track Club.

Nycholas and Nolan enjoyed swimming with the Flamingo Swim Club under Coach Moxey. Nolan was even a participant in the prestigious Gentlemen’s Club.

But long before this, Nolan was making an incredible mark on the world. He is a lifetime member of St Barnabas Anglican Church and he actively participated in the youth choir, marching band and concert band before heading off to university. He also sang in a group directed by Kaylen Jervis, and other choirs throughout his upbringing. He has served as a soloist in every choir he has participated in. He is an avid drum player, but his mother says he can pick up any instrument and learn how to play it, and he has several theory levels. He has written, directed and performed in plays for school and for his family on occasions such as Christmas since he was a youngster. His love for music is just as strong as his love for poetry.

Nolan is known as a young leader who dedicates himself to whatever task or project he is assigned. His parents, teachers and mentors always described him as “self-motivated and creative”. They say he has always given of himself freely to help family, friends and people in general, regardless of the activity or event.

Last year, Nolan graduated from St Augustine’s with a Bachelor of Science in Biology and a stellar track record. He was the 2019-2020 president of the Student Government Association. He became a lead vocalist in the University Choir now known as the Chamber Singers, which allowed him to travel and represent his school and his country. Nolan also became a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity on campus and served as Vice President of the Gamma Psi Chapter 2018-2019. He was very involved and was elevated to the rank of Chief of Staff for the Raleigh, North Carolina undergraduate brothers.

Nolan’s dream is to become a veterinarian. So, once he got his Bachelor’s, he applied to North Carolina University to study Veterinary Science, and he was accepted.

“I began my efforts towards my aspiration and goal at Marathon Veterinary Clinic where I shadowed the Doctor at this Animal Hospital,” he shared in his personal statement to the University.

“Further determination to meet my goals led me to become an intern at The Bahamas Ministry of Agriculture Veterinary Unit. Other experiences included a Veterinary Fellowship at the Ann Road Animal Hospital in Las Vegas, Nevada. I also completed a mandatory senior research course, and details are found in my resume.”

In the statement, he referred to a quote by Rudyard Kipling: “If you can fill the unforgiving minute with 60 seconds worth of distance run, yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it, and – which is more – you’ll be a man, my son!”

“Life is a continuous forward motion of experiences and opportunities that we can either loathe or cherish for a lifetime,” Nolan said.

“Four years of college experiences shows one a glimpse or fraction of the forward motion. The lessons of knowing what to loathe and what to cherish during this time period has been an education for me. Rudyard Kipling’s verses have made me to understand more the worth of time in a lifetime by comparing what we’ve done with the amount of time we spent doing it.”

“Along with my educational pursuits, I worked part-time to assist in paying my financial obligations and also to connect more with the community. Most Saturdays are often “futsal Saturday” (a football game played on a hard court), played with close friends and local undergraduate students. This is a recent community project that my brother and I are working on to bring more people together. Our goal is to bring the community together through entertainment.”

Nolan said his St Augustine’s experience provided him with the opportunity to gain more “knowledge, listening skills and the inspiration to become the student leader of over one thousand students”.

He said it gave him “four great years of lessons and opportunities” that he could now use as he has to “traverse the next run” towards his goal.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he did not start classes at North Carolina University in the Fall. He was scheduled to begin classes this January, but his plans would be seriously derailed after what he thought would be a quick visit to the emergency room.

Nolan had been experiencing headaches. His parents thought it may have been stress. He was working and preparing to begin studying for his Master’s degree in a matter of weeks. Because they were consistent, he called his mother on December 21 to say he was going to Urgent Care to have it checked out. They immediately sent him to the hospital next door to the emergency room, because his blood pressure was extremely elevated.

When he told her what his pressure reading was, Terah exclaimed: “Wow, that’s stroke pressure!”

“I never in my wildest dreams thought that his headaches would be associated with high blood pressure,” she told me.

“He was only 22-years-old, he is an athlete, he eats healthy food, he is small – he isn’t overweight - I would have never thought. He had me on a video call and left it open so I could hear what was going on as he was being seen by the doctors and nurses at the ER. This went on for about half an hour or more. Then I heard the nurse say, ‘Well, Nolan, we are going to admit you and we are moving you to the Intensive Care Unit’. Well, when she said that, I burst out crying. I started sobbing. Then I heard him say, ‘Mommy, mommy, hey, hey, hey! What is that? Why are you crying? Stop that!’ I pulled myself together and I said anyway, when you get settled in, call me back. He did.

“They ran tests on him. The next day, I decided, I would go to North Carolina. My child is in ICU and I couldn’t wait for someone to tell me what was happening with him. My job was to end in a couple days for the Christmas holiday. That evening, I told my husband, I will take Taylor with me, since it’s the holiday.

The next morning, I was convinced he should come too, even though my flight was leaving at 1 o’clock that afternoon. Somehow, I had no doubt that I would be able to get the extra tickets for them. Because of the pandemic, seats were available. I was supposed to pick up my daughter’s passport from the US Embassy the next day. But I called and thank God her passport was ready and they let me pick it up. I had to dash around and get the tickets, pick up the passport, go to the bank to get money changed, and we were off!

“We went to our boys’ apartment and left our bags. We went to the hospital. They only allowed one person in at a time. It was difficult but through it all, God has been good. This was the first time my family had been all together at one time in about two to three years.

“Despite the circumstances, it was a good trip. We envisioned that we would be going for about two weeks at the most. We ended up staying there two-and-a-half months. I have nothing but praise for the medical team at the hospital. I would stake out the room; I sat there for hours and hours at a time with him. The nurses and doctors were very informative every step of the way. It’s very emotional talking about it.

“Nolan was officially diagnosed with Chronic Kidney Disease. We are stepping out in faith and moving towards the goal. He is getting ready to go back to school in the fall and he is determined. All I am here to do is help him achieve his goal and help him to stay well. It could take three to five years for him to get a transplant. His case has been handed over from Rex Hospital to Duke Hospital. Doctors have a high interest in his case because he is so young with no family history.”

Nolan’s official diagnosis is End Stage Renal Failure. He has gratefully been moved up the transplant list. Through the entire ordeal, Terah said her son was upbeat and bubbly and kept saying, “Mom, I’m not sick”. She said she feels this great attitude helped him to handle his dialysis very well. He has to eat special foods and have treatments on a regular basis, and he cannot even take in too much liquid.

“His parents will bring him home this weekend for a special cookout fundraiser on Whit Monday in his honour. They want him to stay for two weeks, but due to the cost of dialysis three days per week here, he doesn’t want to stay long; rather, he wants to return and continue dialysis in North Carolina where his insurance allows his parents to pay less fees.

He has strong family support and a great legacy. He is the grandson of ER and Carol Hanna, and Wilfred and Hilda Sweeting. Carol is a veteran educator, former principal and former Deputy Director of Education. Nolan’s bills are mounting daily and currently exceed $200,000.

The cookout is set for Whit Monday, May 24, 2021 on the campus of St John’s College (a curb-side affair) beginning at 11:00am until 5:00pm. Contact 557-3006, or 424-7728 or email carol.hanna24@gmail.com to help 23-year-old Nolan overcome his health challenge and go on to live a full life.