Dan Rosone got his tattoo in memory of his best friend Nicklaus Joseph Russo, who lost his battle with leukemia in 2011.

Rosone, a junior finance and information management and technology dual major, has Russo’s initials, NJR, and drumsticks with an orange ribbon intertwined tattooed on his left ribcage.

Russo was diagnosed with leukemia in the middle of his junior year in high school and died shortly before the start of senior year, Rosone said. When Russo was diagnosed, Rosone said his family and friends were shocked.

“It was a little surreal at the time,” Rosone said.

Their school and community came together to support Russo. At the end of both the basketball and lacrosse seasons, they had fundraiser games called “Fight for a Cure.” Students wore orange shirts and shoelaces — the color of leukemia awareness and the reason Rosone incorporated the orange ribbon in his tattoo.

Rosone remembers Russo as one of his best childhood friends. The two lived down the street from each other in northern New Jersey. He recalled spending summers with Russo, playing sports and video games at each other’s houses. Rosone and Russo also shared a special love for music — Rosone said Russo was a talented drummer.

Although he has gotten older and has drifted from some of his friends from high school, Rosone said there is one thing they will always have in common and that is cherishing the time they had with Russo.

“Nick is the one thing we can always relate to and who we grew up with,” Rosone said. “It just has such an effect on your life when you see someone’s life taken from them that early when they didn’t do anything to deserve it.”

Rosone said that Russo lives on through him, and this was part of his motivation for getting the tattoo.

“He touched so many people in the span of 17 or 18 years, and that’s something everyone should strive to do,” Rosone said.

Published on March 24, 2015 at 12:01 am

Contact Gigi: gantonel@syr.edu