Tuckahoe Elementary art teacher Nicole ‘Nikki’ Reed passed away “quietly and peacefully” surrounded by family and friends last month after an eight-month battle against a rare and aggressive form of brain cancer.
“Friends and Family, this is a post that we knew would come eventually, but we all thought we had more time. Our valiant fighter, Nikki, has taken the path of peace,” Janet Doyle wrote on her friend’s CaringBridge blog last month.
“Nikki passed away quietly and peacefully Sunday, March 10th, surrounded by love,” the post continued. “She did all she could to fight this awful disease and did not suffer in the end. She was the most amazing daughter, sister, wife, mother, friend and teacher. The world will be less bright without her in it.”
Reed, a wife, daughter, sister, and mother of two young children — 6-year-old Sylvia and 1-year-old Eli — was diagnosed last July with glioblastoma after she started experiencing symptoms of dizziness and numbness on the left side of her body.
Despite glioblastoma’s notorious low survival rate, the 43-year-old educator remained determined to try to beat the disease. Weeks after being diagnosed, Reed underwent several months of chemotherapy and brain surgery that led to the removal of 95% of the tumor.
Showing her determination, Reed shared her journey publicly online, gaining a large following and raising nearly $40,000 on her GoFundMe page, which is still accepting donations, to cover medical bills and other expenses.
She also sold over 500 t-shirts bearing the message “I can do hard things,” referencing a poster she created during her first year of teaching art. Reed previously told ARLnow that she put the poster up in her classroom during the pandemic as a personal reminder of her resilience.
From her diagnosis until her passing, Reed lived by her motto, family and friends say.
“She was always very headstrong and determined, a fighter all the way to the end,” Reed’s friend of 20 years, Kat Dame, told ARLnow. “Anything that she set her mind to, she did it, and nobody got in her way. She fought for herself, her kids, her family and her friends. She was always a fighter, always very strong, and just confident and determined.”
Despite the challenges, including grueling radiation treatment, Reed’s parents recalled moments of joy, like when Reed rang a bell marking the end of her radiation treatment and when the Tuckahoe PTA provided a Thanksgiving dinner for the family.
“An entire dinner, including a smoked turkey,” Martin Jourden, her father, said. “It was just a lovely dinner… Our son and daughter-in-law and granddaughter, all of us came together as a family.”
Reed’s health began to decline in the late fall following a series of medical episodes, during which she experienced loss of sensation in the left side of her body and, temporarily, a disruption of her short-term memory.
In the face of these challenges, Reed’s parents recall how their daughter strove to maintain a sense of normalcy by celebrating her forty-third birthday, feeding her newborn son and reading to her children every night before bed.
“She put her family first, and we’re just very proud of her,” said Renee Jourden, Reed’s mother.
Beyond her commitment to family, Dame highlighted that her friend never lost the hope of returning to the classroom someday.
“She was just really passionate about being an art teacher and serving the kids and the community,” Dame said. She noted that her friend also had hidden talents and hobbies, from Mahjong to origami to rugby.
Dame acknowledges that Reed had private moments of grief. Still, Reed’s seemingly boundless positivity and steadfast hope drew many people to her.
“When I think of Nikki, I think of adding paint to rainbows,” Dame said. “I know that sounds cheesy, but she always brought that that light and that lightness and and peacefulness and sweetness, and she really made an impact on my life and my kids’ lives.”
Reed’s friends and family are inviting the community to support the Tuckahoe teacher next month by joining the Race for Hope 5K in D.C. The event, sponsored by the National Brain Tumor Society, will be held on Sunday, May 5, at Freedom Plaza (1455 Pennsylvania Avenue NW).
Registration fees range from $30 for walkers to $40 for timed runners, with discounts available for youth participants. There is no registration fee for those who participate virtually. Proceeds will benefit brain cancer research.
To date, 20 individuals have registered for the race under the team name “I can do hard things,” Dame shared.