Family and friends packed into Little Pops Pizzeria on the south side of Naperville to support two families affected by cancer. Last summer Justin Wegner, a 2015 graduate of Naperville Central, and four-year old Roman Niklos were both diagnosed with the disease.
“Roman is my son, and he was diagnosed right around the same time Justin was. He was diagnosed with A.L.L. leukemia,” said J.R. Niklos, Owner/Director of Sports Performance for Acceleration.
“Met Roman last night for the first time. He’s a great little dude and I’m excited to hang out with him a lot more in the future and get to know him better,” said Justin Wegner.
Wegner is currently in the maintenance stage of chemotherapy after receiving treatment in Texas. The goal is to get back on the baseball field at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater by next season. Fortunately for Wegner, he’s known Roman’s father, J.R., for years.
“We’ve trained Justin Wegner since he was a sophomore in high school,” said Niklos.
“Just last week, I started going back to their training facility at Acceleration. J.R. has worked with me in the past, and has agreed to build me back up,” explained Wegner.
With the help of the pizzeria, the two families put on a joint fundraiser. Justin’s father Ed knows first hand the impact of the community.
“It’s amazing, it’s humbling, it’s overwhelming. We just wanted to make that we shared it with the Niklos family and little Roman, because he puts a smile on your face when you take a look at him,” Ed Wegner said.
Feeding the fight for a good cause. For Naperville News 17, I’m Joe Olmo.
