Meet James Rolf Blizzard, a Dribble for Victory Over Cancer Honorary Captain
As a student manager for the University of North Carolina men’s basketball team, James Rolf Blizzard will be attending the 2024 Dribble for Victory Over Cancer event to raise critical funds for pediatric cancer research. He participated in 2023 alongside the team, but a lot has changed since last year’s event: he’s now a cancer thriver.
From classes to internships, sports to social events, college can be one of the busiest times in a person’s life. James Rolf Blizzard, a student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, knows exactly that. He’s spent the last several years balancing life as a student in the business school, an avid runner, a manager for the Tar Heel men’s basketball team, and more. But in February 2024, he was thrown into a role he never expected during his college years: cancer fighter.
Unexpected News
In the midst of training for the Boston Marathon, James Rolf noticed feeling uncharacteristic fatigue along with a lump on the side of his neck. He assumed the symptoms were related to a recent dental procedure, but he began the process of meeting with specialists to get to the bottom of it, including a variety of scans. “I’m sitting in class and my chart results come in from the CT scan I did the day before,” explained James Rolf. The report described a mass in the center of his chest. “It read: likely Hodgkins lymphoma. I thought, ‘what is going on?’”
He knew immediately he wanted to consult his trusted relationships at UNC, including the basketball team doctor, who he’d known personally for the last several years. The doctor quickly connected James Rolf with a pediatric hematology-oncology specialist at UNC, Dr. Patrick Thompson.
When the diagnosis was confirmed, Dr. Thompson was a voice of hope for James Rolf from day one. “He said, ‘It’s very curable, very treatable, that’s what you need to know.’”
A Personalized Treatment Plan
As they developed a treatment plan, James Rolf shared with Dr. Thompson the importance of running the Boston Marathon. They worked together to find a solution that would have successful results and allow him to continue his active lifestyle.
“They came out with a drug called Nivolumab, and it’s an immunotherapy that targets your immune system. It fires up your immune system to kill the cancer,” said James Rolf. “The toxicity is very low.”
James Rolf is one of the first few thousand patients to include this drug as part of his treatment for lymphoma, and his doctor shared that this was a new option that may not have been available for his cancer type just a few years prior. James Rolf’s treatment plan was a product of game-changing cancer research.
The hospital even arranged James Rolf’s treatment days to accommodate his running schedule, and in April 2024, he achieved his goal: crossing the Boston Marathon finish line in under three and a half hours. He also raised over $10,000 for lymphoma and leukemia research during his training, finding a new passion for this cause as he saw first-hand how research improves patient lives.
Dribble for Victory Over Cancer
As James Rolf reflects on the end of his treatment after six months, he remembers how supportive his UNC community was at every turn: from the basketball staff to the outstanding care at the cancer center.
“They really rolled out the Carolina Blue carpet for me,” he said.
This September, the UNC basketball team will support patients and families once again at its third annual Dribble for Victory Over Cancer, a unique partnership between university basketball teams, Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation (PCRF) and the V Foundation. The event raises critical funds for pediatric cancer research and honors patients who have faced this disease. Since the inaugural Dribble event at UCLA in 2008, the program has raised over $2.5 million for childhood cancer research and has expanded to universities nationwide.
North Carolina-based Dribble events in 2024 will be hosted at UNC-Chapel Hill (September 8) and Duke University (October 5).
Registered participants will join coaches, basketball players and other student-athletes to dribble a one-mile course around campus landmarks. Guests can sign up and fundraise as individuals or teams. The funds support pediatric cancer research within the local community, with UNC’s Dribble event benefiting UNC Children’s Research Institute and Duke’s Dribble event benefiting Duke Children’s Hospital.
When James Rolf attended UNC’s Dribble with the basketball team in 2023, he was happy to be a part of an event that positively impacted the community, but this year, he has an entirely new perspective of how personal this event is for so many. He’ll be recognized as an honorary captain alongside other young cancer fighters and families.
“You never consider it until it hits you. And then you realize this could really happen to anyone,” said James Rolf. “I’m a walking case study of that.”
To sign up, donate, or learn more about the 2024 Dribble for Victory Over Cancer events, visit thedribble.org.