Logan Luck

My name is Logan. I’m 22 years old and live in Liberty Township, Ohio, with my parents and brother. My father attended Morehead State with Tom Schumacher, who, along with his wife Jeni, has been deeply involved with the C3 journey for many years. It’s an honor to now be a part of that journey myself.

In August of 2018, my life changed forever.

It was only the second day of my freshman year of high school when I was struck by the most excruciating headache I’d ever experienced. I asked to go to the nurse’s office, and from that point on, my memory fades. I was rushed to the hospital, where a CT scan revealed something deeply concerning. I was immediately transferred by ambulance to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital main campus.

There, an extraordinary neurosurgeon performed emergency surgery to place an exterior ventricle drain. I was diagnosed with obstructive hydrocephalus caused by a tumor growing in the tectal plate of my brain. After a week in the hospital, I underwent another surgery to place a permanent programmable VP shunt.

Unfortunately, the diagnosis was a tectal glioma — a rare and inoperable brain tumor. While it cannot be removed, I’ve learned that it’s a tumor you can live with — and I do. Thanks to the care of my oncologist, neurologist, and neurosurgeon, I continue to push forward. I am forever grateful to each of them.

In June of 2019, I received six weeks of proton radiation therapy that successfully stopped the tumor’s growth. I am beyond thankful that I live so close to one of the best pediatric hospitals in the country. The doctors, surgeons, and nurses there are nothing short of remarkable.

During my senior year of high school, I faced another setback: an infection in my CSF (cerebral spinal fluid). My neurosurgeon had to remove my shunt and place another exterior ventricle drain. I spent 28 days in the hospital, missing prom and graduation. But despite it all, I survived. I made it.

This past May, I proudly graduated from Cincinnati State’s Midwest Culinary Institute. Today, I work as a cook at Eli’s Sports Bar — and I dream of opening my own restaurant one day.

Thank you for honoring me. I am humbled, and I am grateful — to be alive, to be here, and to share my journey with you.