Lucas Polsinelli · 2012 – 2025
This is Lucas.
Not a diagnosis. Not a statistic. A funny, kind, wildly brave kid from Fonda whose legacy now carries other families through their hardest days.
Fonda, New York
A kid you couldn’t help but love
Lucas Polsinelli grew up doing what he loved: flying down the lacrosse field in his No. 27 jersey, disappearing into his Meta Quest, and trading jokes with anyone who’d listen.
He had the kind of humor that filled a room and the kind of heart that noticed when someone else’s was heavy. Ask anyone in Fonda — Lucas made people laugh. That stayed his thing through everything that came next.
July 18, 2024
The diagnosis
On July 18, 2024, Lucas was diagnosed with B-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia — a cancer that begins in the bone marrow, where immature white blood cells multiply out of control and crowd out the healthy blood the body needs. It is the most common childhood cancer, and treating it means years of chemotherapy, spinal taps, hospital stays, and long stretches with a compromised immune system.
His world became treatment schedules and the halls of The Melodies Center. It never became sad — Lucas wouldn’t allow it. A weighted dinosaur went with him to every single visit, his Meta Quest was never far behind, and nurses left his room smiling.
The Polsinellis
His whole family, all in
Lucas fought this with his family shoulder to shoulder — his mom and dad, his twin brother Logan, and his older brother Andrew. They wore the shirts, walked the walks, sat the long hospital hours, and turned every hard day into something the five of them carried together.
The brotherly love ran deep and it ran competitive. Whatever football team his brothers were rooting for, Lucas would pick the other side just to give them grief — and he’d never let them hear the end of it. That’s why sibling support is written into everything this foundation does: brothers and sisters fight this battle too.
March 2025
FireWolf for a day, teammate for life
The Albany FireWolves signed Lucas to a one-day contract, and he did the whole thing right: press conference, name card, cameras rolling, that grin. He became an honorary member of the team, and every player signed his jersey.
Then came the walkout — Lucas under the arena lights, hand in hand with the pros, ten feet tall.
May 22, 2025
The story doesn’t end here
Lucas passed away on May 22, 2025. He was twelve years old, and he spent those years making people laugh, making people brave, and making people better.
His family refused to let his story stop there. They founded Lucas’ Army so that every child fighting cancer has what Lucas had: comfort in their arms, family at their bedside, and an entire army at their back.
Carried forward
He goes everywhere with them
Logan and Andrew still bring their brother along — to the beach, to the field, to every place he would have loved. Forever 12, forever with them.