Larry Thomas Thanks The NCCS

Dear Friends of the NCCS,

In 1992, at the age of 35, I came within a hair of bleeding to death in the old North Hollywood hospital. It turned out I had a colon tumor that burst a blood vessel. Luckily, and just in time to save the day, a gastroenterologist showed up on his first case out of residency and found the tumor.

When the tumor was removed, I was told it was malignant and I would have to be checked with frequent colonoscopies and blood tests. It was the first time I realized cancer isn’t just for the old.

I was donating little bits I could afford back then to charities that would send me information in the mail. One day, I got something from the NCCS and I checked out the organization because the thought of children with cancer broke my heart – especially since one of the promises I made when I thought I was going to die was to have a child, which my wife and I were discussing at the time.

As I wrote in my book, “Confessions of a Soup Nazi: An Adventure in Acting and Cooking,” “Whatever you consider yourself, atheist, agnostic or religious, there comes a moment when the only person you have to talk to is God. I discovered that moment is usually just before you think you’re going to die, and you’ll probably make a deal.” As a result of my deal, there is an amazing 28-year-old named Ben Thomas, my son I was told he might grow up and be at risk of cancer as a young man, so I decided to support the one charity that was taking care of children with cancer.

Back then, I could only afford around $5 at a time. But years later my acting career took a good turn with “Seinfeld.” And when I was offered to play “The Weakest Link” in 2002 for charity, I was able to have the television show donate $10,000 to the NCCS

All that to say, the NCCS has always been my charity of choice.

Thanks for taking care of the children,

Larry Thomas