🎥 VIDEO EPISODE NOTE: This story was made for video and includes powerful visual moments from both sides of the THON 2026 Hospital-to-THON Bridge — from patient rooms at Penn State Health Children's Hospital to the floor of the Bryce Jordan Center. Watch the full episode on YouTube for the complete experience.

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Every year, THON happens for the kids who can't be there. This year, THON came to them.

Delaney Clemens is sixteen years old. A two-sport varsity athlete — field hockey and lacrosse — she played a game on a Wednesday in March. By Friday, she was at Penn State Health Children's Hospital. Four days later, she was diagnosed with High-Risk B-Cell Leukemia. Her world, as she put it, changed in a split second.

This THON Weekend, Delaney's room was connected to the Bryce Jordan Center through a live remote bridge — bringing the full THON experience directly to inpatients who couldn't attend. Line dances, the white-out pep rally, the Penn State Drum Major and Majorette, a pairing reveal, and the live number announcement — all of it, streamed to patient rooms in real time.

And at the end of the weekend, when it was time to say goodbye, Delaney looked at the screen and said something that stopped the room.

"See you next year."

In this episode of Life on Pause, we tell Delaney's story alongside Emmett Herring — who was in that same hospital room last year during THON, and this year walked into the Bryce Jordan Center for the first time.

In this episode:

• The Hospital-to-THON live bridge and how it works

• The Wednesday hospital visit — the Drum Major, Majorette, Penn State Bingo, and line dance teachers who came to the inpatient unit three days before THON Weekend

• The pairing reveal: a THON organization meeting their Four Diamonds family through a screen

• The THON 2026 number reveal — watched live from both locations

• What it means to belong to a community when you can't be in the room

💙 Life on Pause is produced in partnership with Penn State Health Children's Hospital and Four Diamonds.

🎧 Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you listen to podcasts.

📺 Watch the full video on YouTube — search "Life on Pause."

Learn more: https://www.lifeonpausepodcast.com

At twenty years old, Eliot Dean was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. For weeks, his world shrank to a single hospital floor he couldn't leave — a window with a good view, a lot of sunsets, and the slow, difficult work of getting through treatment.

Five years later, in remission, Eliot thought the worst was behind him. Then routine blood work came back suspicious. Same markers. Same diagnosis. A different kind of fear.

In this episode of Life on Pause, Eliot shares what no one tells you about facing leukemia twice — and what it means to fight it the second time, when you already know how hard it is. He talks about the stem cell transplant that saved his life, the brother who made it possible, the bell he rang on the other side, and the trip to Costa Rica he'd been putting off for too long.

Eliot speaks honestly about the "not knowing" — the statistics, the survival rates, the questions he demanded answers to because he wasn't willing to be a passive patient. He talks about THON, Four Diamonds, and the full-circle moment of realizing the organization his sister fundraised for as a student became his lifeline as a patient. And he shares the philosophy he's carried out of the other side: don't wait. Don't be scared.

His story isn't about one diagnosis. It's about two — and everything that changed between them.

Thank you, Eliot, for sharing your story and your strength.

Topics Covered:

• Being diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia at age 20

• Life on a single hospital floor — confinement, coping, and small freedoms

• The relapse — facing the same diagnosis five years later

• The stem cell transplant and his brother Collin as the donor

• Self-advocacy and demanding to understand your own treatment

• THON and Four Diamonds — a full-circle community story

• Ringing the bell — the second time

• Life after cancer: Costa Rica, not waiting, taking it day by day

• What he'd tell the version of himself who was twenty and newly diagnosed

About Life on Pause:

Life on Pause is a podcast for and by young adults with cancer. Produced by Penn State Health's AYA Oncology Program, each episode is rooted in honest storytelling and community connection. Our content is reviewed by medical and psychosocial experts to ensure accuracy and care.

Join Our Community:

💻 Website: https://www.lifeonpausepodcast.com/

🎧 Subscribe on Spotify & Apple Podcasts

Content Warning: This episode contains discussions of cancer diagnosis, relapse, stem cell transplant, and the emotional weight of facing a life-threatening illness more than once.

🎥 VIDEO EPISODE NOTE: This story was created for video and includes incredible visual moments from THON Weekend — from walking through Penn State's player cheer tunnel to experiencing the energy of 16,500 students in the Bryce Jordan Center. For the full experience, watch on YouTube: [LINK]

When Grace Schneider was diagnosed with B-cell leukemia in 2020, her family discovered something unexpected: Penn State's THON — the largest student-run philanthropy in the world, where students stand for 46 hours straight to support children fighting pediatric cancer.

This is their third year experiencing THON Weekend, and in this episode, we follow Grace's family through an incredible weekend of Family Explorers programs. Her father Ben reflects on how the compassion and caring of college students humbles him every year. Her brother Brooks shares what it means to "beat cancer along with my sister, even though I didn't have it." And young adult cancer survivor Eliot Dean describes the energy that feeds him each time he returns.

From touring Penn State's football facility and meeting players like Nicholas Singleton, to walking through the player cheer tunnel, to experiencing the 46-hour dance marathon at the Bryce Jordan Center — THON Weekend creates connections that last far beyond one weekend. Ben shares how both his kids now dream of attending Penn State and playing sports here, inspired by the college students who showed up for them.

Brooks talks about what it meant to support his sister through treatment — sending cards, texts saying "get well soon, keep fighting" — and how THON volunteers became his connection too. Eliot, who has been attending since 2016 despite his diagnosis at age 20 and relapse five years later, explains what "taking the long way around" really means when you're living with cancer.

Behind it all is Four Diamonds at Penn State Health Children's Hospital, which ensures families never receive a single bill for their child's cancer treatment. Since 1977, THON has raised over $254 million to cover every cost not paid by insurance — and the support extends far beyond finances.

This isn't just a story about a dance marathon. It's about community, hope, and what happens when 16,500 students decide to stand up for kids who can't.

Topics Covered:

1. What THON is and how the 46-hour dance marathon works
2. Family Explorers programs across Penn State's campus
3. The sibling perspective on childhood cancer ("I beat cancer too")
4. How THON inspires kids fighting cancer to dream bigger
5. Walking through Penn State football's player cheer tunnel
6. Meeting Penn State athletes and building lasting connections
7. What Four Diamonds covers beyond medical bills
8. How college students create community for cancer families
9. Living as a young adult cancer survivor and returning to THON year after year
10. Grace's journey from leukemia diagnosis to thriving today

About Life on Pause: Life on Pause is a podcast for and by young adults with cancer. Produced by Penn State Health's AYA Oncology Program and Four Diamonds, each episode is rooted in honest storytelling and community connection. Our content is reviewed by medical and psychosocial experts to ensure accuracy and care.

Join Our Community:

Website: https://www.lifeonpausepodcast.com/

Subscribe on Spotify & Apple Podcasts

Learn more about THON: https://thon.org

Four Diamonds: https://fourdiamonds.org

Featured Voices:

1. Ben Schneider - Father of Grace, diagnosed with B-cell leukemia in 2020
2. Brooks Schneider - Grace's brother, age 12
3. Eliot Dean - Young adult cancer survivor, THON attendee since 2016