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September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, and while relatively rare, cancer is the leading cause of death after infancy among children in the United States.

VCU Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center and Children’s Hospital of Richmond at VCU (CHoR) providers work in collaboration to create the Richmond area’s only pediatric cancer and hematology program, providing comfort and treatment to those families who unfortunately hear the words, “your child has cancer.”

This is one such story about Riley Oldaker, who was recently featured as CHoR’s August calendar kid.

What started out as knee pain in February 2025 led to the diagnosis of cancer for then 15-year-old Riley Oldaker. Despite aggressive treatment and knee-replacement surgery, the teen’s spirit and love of laughter have never wavered.

Ewing sarcoma is an aggressive form of cancer that impacts the bones or surrounding tissues in children, teens and young adults, but almost never in anyone with Down syndrome. So, when Riley received his diagnosis last year, Frances Austin, M.D., a pediatric oncologist with Children’s Hospital of Richmond at VCU and VCU Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center, said Riley was only one of two known cases in the world.

Despite the rare and scary diagnosis, Riley’s passion for spreading joy and giving the best hugs was apparent every single time he stepped foot in the Children’s Pavilion or Tower.

“I believe I got a huge bear hug the first time I met Riley,” remembered Katie Barber, a certified therapeutic recreation specialist in CHoR’s oncology clinic. “He was always smiling, giving out hugs and being social with everyone.”

Riley’s big personality and smile took centerstage at CHoR’s 2025 oncology prom. He arrived wearing a dapper three-piece suit and showed no qualms about breaking out his dance moves despite having his IV pole in tow. That the prom happened right in the middle of Riley’s chemotherapy regimen didn’t stop him from being the life of the party, even while the toughest part of his aggressive treatment lay ahead.

In July 2025, Anna Greenwood, M.D., an orthopaedic oncologist and surgeon at Massey who specializes in benign and malignant tumors of the bones and soft tissues affecting the arms, legs and pelvis, removed the tumor from the top of Riley’s knee and performed a knee replacement, a rarity in pediatric cancer care.

“At Massey, we probably do 2-3 knee replacements a year on pediatric patients,” Greenwood reflected, adding, “Riley amazed me with his enthusiasm for life, and I was struck by his resilience throughout the entire process.”  

As one of only two orthopaedic oncologists in central Virginia, Greenwood is a critical provider to patients who might otherwise need to travel long distances for treatment. That spirit of collaboration existing between Massey and CHoR is what brought Greenwood back to Richmond.

“I returned because of the wonderful opportunity to take care of both kids and adults with tumors,” Greenwood said. “I knew Massey and CHoR had a collaborative environment and that their multidisciplinary approach between surgical oncologists, medical oncologists, radiation oncologists and pathology would allow me to take the best care of my patients.”

Following surgery, Riley had just weeks to heal before returning to chemotherapy treatments. While some of those days were difficult, Riley’s spirit never wavered.

“Riley would either build with Legos, coming up with a ‘set’ he wanted to construct, or he would put on his headphones and watch videos,” explained Barber. “But he never failed to give everyone smiles, many times hugs, even on his worst days.”

Beth Oldaker, Riley’s mom, said each team member he encountered made those hard days easier.

Dr. Frances Austin, Riley, and his parents celebrate at Riley's bell-ringing ceremony (Children's Hospital of Richmond) “Every staff member we met truly cared: the nurses gave their all to make the pokes and medicines and alarms less scary, the doctors really listened to the family and adjusted care as needed, child life was there to explain scary surgical procedures in ways Riley could understand,” said Beth. “Nutrition went above and beyond for special dietary requests, the cleaning crew made sure his room was as clean as possible during immunocompromised times, the Child Life Zone created a safe space for him to escape the medical side of treatment and just play games, and Ronald McDonald House staff provided dinners and snacks, as well as laundry facilities during those long hospital stays.”

But having family around was the best way to lift Riley’s spirits.

“Riley is such a loving young man with a wonderful, supportive family,” explained Barber. “He loves his big sister Traci and was always so excited when she came to clinic with him.”

Those hard days paid off.

Riley completed his chemo in October 2025. There was a packed house as the team lined the hall to watch Riley ring the bell, celebrating the end of his treatment, and he got more hugs than he could count.

Learn more about how Massey and CHoR are working together to bring about positive outcomes in childhood cancer care.

This article was repurposed from one originally published on the CHoR site in August.