Who Nolan Was
Nolan was as caring and sincere as a person can be.
He loved people regardless of their religion, race, sexuality, nationality, or appearance. In October of 2014, his senior football season was cut short with a diagnosis of Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. He was given a 94% chance of survival and endured an intense regimen of chemotherapy. Over months of grueling treatment, he never wanted anyone to worry about him or be upset about his sickness. Keeping a positive mindset, he made sure everyone did the same. He missed out on the rest of football season, basketball season, and most of his senior year.
Nolan was thrilled about starting his freshman year at the University of Alabama, but one month before classes started, he relapsed. He spent that fall undergoing a stem cell transplant, more chemo, and radiation, watching college football from his hospital bed.
Even through the ravages of end-stage cancer, Nolan chose not to complain—he was determined to protect his loved ones from worry and sadness. After a courageous battle, Nolan passed away on February 20, 2016 at the age of 19.
Video by Andy Clinton
Video by Andy Clinton Featuring Jonathan Robinson
and Jalen Harris
Prom 2015 Left to Right: Wells Hooper (founder), Nolan, Coleman Taylor (founder), Whit Powell (winner of 2021 skeet shoot), and Marshall Griffin (founder)
Who We Are
As Nolan's best friends, we started the Nolan Fields Memorial Foundation
five years after his death. With the goal of raising $20,000 for a 2021 scholarship in his memory, we organized the first of what we hope to be many annual fundraisers.
Our Mission
Nolan wanted to go to college more than anything else, and our foundation helps young cancer survivors to do just that.
We raise funds through an annual fundraising event for survivors of cancer so that they will have the opportunity to further their education as Nolan wanted to do. Through the valued sponsorships of businesses and the donations of family and friends, we hope to dramatically change the lives of young people who have fought and won against cancer.
Recipients
2023 Recipient - Carmelo Lampley
The 2023 recipient has a special place in the hearts of the Fly High Fields Memorial Foundation members.
We were impressed by Carmelo’s commitment to his studies while also participating in many extracurricular activities including football, basketball, and working at Zaxby’s. He is also an active member in his church, White Street Baptist, and is considered a leader amongst the church youth group by helping in classrooms and the church’s sports teams.
Carmelo is an Honor Roll Student and a recipient of the Award of Excellence from Loachapoka High School. After graduation, he plans to continue his education at Shelton State Community College where he will study HVAC and Business Management.
Not only is Carmelo Lampley an exceptional young man, but he was a patient at Children’s Hospital in Birmingham, AL with Nolan Fields. In 2014, at just eight years old, Carmelo was beginning one of the hardest battles a child could face.
At the time, Carmelo could not fully understand his type of cancer or the process of healing. During his treatment, he met Nolan Fields. Nolan was also a patient of Dr. Xavier’s at the time. They connected instantly because of their shared interest in football. Carmelo believes that because of Nolan’s optimism and friendship, the multiple doctor visits became more enjoyable.
Carmelo survived NHL T-Cell Lymphoma with the help of Dr. Ana Xavier of Children’s Hospital and many unspoken prayers by friends and family. Beginning his chemotherapy treatments at eight years old, Carmelo gives his thanks to God and Dr. Xavier for his triumph over the cancer.
When speaking on his experience, Carmelo says that he strives every day to make his mother and Nolan proud.
We are proud to support Carmelo in achieving his goals with the 2023 Nolan Fields Memorial Scholarship, an amount of $16,470.
Scholarship Ceremony: Alex Cook (2021 Recipient), Wells Hooper (founder), Carmelo Lampley, Marshall Griffin (founder).
Presenting the scholarship to Carmelo at children’s Hospital
2022 Recipient - Isabella Shimko-Lofano
Our 2022 recipient has the kind of resume that selection committees dream about.
We’re excited that Isabella majors in biomedical sciences in the honors college at Auburn University. We like that she spends her school breaks working at Trader Joe’s as a section leader.
We loved learning that the 2021 graduate of Vestavia High School played clarinet, oboe, and flute in her school’s Marching and Symphonic Bands. We were delighted that she could transition from this elegant pastime to a gritty one, playing on the varsity softball team, where she won the Coach’s Award. She did all this while being in the National Honor Society and Mu Alpha Theta, a math honor society.
That’s all great.
But what moved us most about Bella is how she has dealt with two difficult episodes of cancer in her own family.
Isabella was still in the womb when her parents found out that their 18-month-old son Calvin had stage 4 Neuroblastoma, a cancer that occurs most often in babies. He was given only a 5% chance of survival. Three months into Calvin’s chemotherapy, Isabella was born.
As a toddler, she didn’t understand much except that Calvin was “very sick.” She does remember helping her mother with care-taking (as much as a 3-year-old is able). She recalls how Calvin would send his snack requests to her via walkie talkie, since the pain in his bones kept him from walking downstairs. Tragically, Calvin died when he was just 6 years old.
From that time, at just 4 years of age, Bella knew she wanted to be a doctor. What she didn’t know was that she too would be struck by a malignancy.
Isabella was diagnosed at age 13 with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. The pressure to beat the disease was heightened by knowing how unthinkable it would be for her parents to lose another child. At Children’s Hospital of Alabama, she underwent chemotherapy and radiation. Thankfully, 7 years later, she is cancer free.
Bella has since poured her heart into becoming an advocate for cancer patients. After 3 years of volunteering in roles such as campaign manager and leadership team co-chairman for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, she was named the organization’s Student of the Year in 2021. She has worked in the hospice chapter of Honors Serves, and has given her time to the Make-a-Wish Foundation.
Determined to pursue a career in pediatric oncology, Bella recently shadowed her own childhood physician, Dr. Ana Xavier, at Children’s Hospital. Her time at Children’s showed her the day-in-day-out life of a hematologist/oncologist caring for kids. At home in that environment, Isabella hopes to make a difference in the lives of childhood cancer patients, just as her doctors did for her.
We are honored to help Isabella achieve her dream with the 2022 Nolan Fields Memorial Scholarship, an award of $15,000.
Scholarship Ceremony: Wells Hooper (founder), Isabella Shimko-Lofano, Marshall Griffin (founder).
Bella at bat in high school
Isabella (second from left) after a Symphonic Band concert during treatment
2021 Winner - Alex Cook
Our first recipient, Alex Cook, has endured the very worst that cancer can do to a young person. At the beginning of his sophomore year at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, he was diagnosed with T-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. The then 19-year-old underwent an intense 7-week regimen of chemotherapy and was declared cancer free when a spinal tap revealed no leukemia.
That’s when Alex’s biggest challenge ensued–he was struck with a mysterious illness that confounded his medical team at Children’s Hospital. A fever, always risky for a cancer patient, led to his coughing up blood, a perilous weight loss (he dropped from 145 to 80 pounds), multiple organ failure, and a 2-month long medically induced coma during which he received IVs in his feet because all other parts of his body were taken up with lines.
During this time, the port in his chest, which delivered drugs throughout his system, became severely infected. Port infections can easily kill patients, especially one as weakened as Alex was at the time. Miraculously, he never got sick, a fact his doctor said was “medically unexplainable.”
He eventually recovered, but his body was so ravaged that he required intense physical therapy to relearn basic tasks like walking.
When Alex was diagnosed with leukemia, he was determined not to let the disease take him down mentally. He faced each horrible obstacle by harnessing his naturally easygoing temperament to focus on the positives that this journey could bring to his life.
Once recovered, he committed to getting even stronger than he was before cancer by working out at Crossfit Wotown in Birmingham. He got a job at Publix, and changed his major from human resources management to secondary education with a focus on English. His purpose is to help as many young people as possible as a teacher.
When we met Alex, we were stunned at how much he reminded us of Nolan–not only in his personality and values, but in his mannerisms and appearance. We could not have found a more perfect candidate to use this award to make the world a better place, just as Nolan did.
Award ceremony: Dr. Ana Xavier (oncologist), Wells Hooper, Alex Cook, Marshall Griffin, and Coleman Taylor (founders).
How You Can Help
Sponsorship
To sponsor fill out the form below or to mail your application in, click here to download the form.
Sponsors
Genia & Jeff Stallings
Lucile & David Lieux
Lisa & Gordon Chambliss
Louise & Bill Hill
Dr. Tim S. Trulove
Kim & Lawrence Oakley
Ashlee & Conwell Hooper
Susan & Ty Harris
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