Following his high school graduation in 2023, Naperville North boys water polo team captain Adrian Lam was looking forward to the next chapter of his young life. He had just helped the Huskies to back-to-back sectional championships and state tournament appearances and was ready to enroll at the University of Illinois in the fall. Unfortunately, those plans were pushed to the side as, over the summer Lam was diagnosed with Burkitt Lymphoma, an aggressive non-Hodgkins B-cell lymphoma. In order to combat the disease, he was forced to put his collegiate dreams on hold and begin intense chemotherapy and radiation treatments.
“It was just really scary at first, but then, as I got through the first and second rounds, I realized this was my new life. It was going to be something that I have to adjust to, so now I have just come to a full acceptance of what my new life will look like,” said Naperville North boys water polo assistant JV coach Adrian Lam.
Returning to the old stomping grounds
Treatments began in August of 2023 before concluding the most recent round in February. While it certainly took a heavy toll mentally and physically, the former water polo and swimming standout was eager to keep busy, spending his time out of treatment tutoring students and building a telescope. Lam also reached out to his former water polo coach at Naperville North, Kelly Reif, about helping with the team once the season kicked off this spring.
“He reached out right away and asked shortly after he was diagnosed. So I said, hey, you’re going to be healthy by March, and I’d love to have you,” said Naperville North boys water polo coach Kelly Reif.
“Since I was forced to take a gap year, it’s just that I had to find stuff that I enjoy doing, like hobbies that take up my time, or you’re going to live a very depressing life. So that’s one thing I learned about myself and about in general of how to keep yourself productive, how to keep yourself happy, even during a very difficult time,” said Lam.
After a year of challenges, a welcome surprise for Adrian Lam
While he enjoys being back at the pool and helping coach the kids, he received a massive surprise following a recent victory over Metea Valley. Following his initial diagnosis, his family applied for Nik’s Wish through the Nikolas Ritschel Foundation, a Make-a-Wish-style charity for young adults aged 18-25. Lam was the recipient of this year’s wish, winning a surprise family trip to Hawaii. After the win over the Mustangs, his teammates and family members gathered together to surprise Adrian with the news.
“At first, I thought it was like a surprise for the coaches because Kelly told me that we were going to do some game planning to stay behind as everyone was setting up. So I was like, what’s going on? And then the coaches started saying, go Adiran, go. So I walked up the stairs and saw everything, and it was just really touching to see that so many people were willing to attend this very special occasion for me,” said Lam.
Lam and his family are ready to say Aloha
The Hawaiian-themed party featured food and cake and even had a giant genie lamp brought in by the Nik’s Wish Foundation. The memorable night brought tears of joy to Lam, just another memorable part of his time with the blue and orange this season.
“It’s been really great. I’ve formed some bonds with the JV kids, and it’s just fun watching the water polo varsity team because you see some of the mistakes that you would have made in the pool and outside the pool. You’re given a completely different angle compared to watching from the sidelines,” said Lam.
With the surprises behind them, Lam and the rest of the North coaching staff are ready for a strong home stretch as they wrap up conference season next week with the DVC championship-deciding battle coming up against Waubonsie Valley. A potential deep postseason run is once again on the table as the Huskies will compete in the Neuqua Valley sectional and hope to earn their first state trophy since 2014. Lam will enjoy every minute before he is finally able to attend the University of Illinois this fall. While the team will miss their teammate, coach, and friend on the pool deck, everyone is excited for Adrian to get his life back on track.
“We will miss him on the pool deck here, I am super excited for him to be a normal college student back at school having fun,” said Reif.
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