Sarcoma surgery helped a community leader continue his calling — and earn a key to the city for his service. Charles Thompkins began volunteering in the Milo Grogan community of Columbus, Ohio when he was just 13 years old. In the decades that followed, he made an immeasurable impact on his neighbors’ lives. “We try to do everything at our fingertips to help the person next to us and in front of us, never leaving anyone behind,” Thompkins says. Health has also been a lifelong focus for Thompkins, so it came as a shock when he was diagnosed with a gastrointestinal stromal tumor, a rare form of sarcoma. “I never drink, smoke or use drugs, and I worked out all the time — two to three times a day. I used to run five miles like it was walking across the street,” he says. “I never thought I would get the diagnosis I had, but that day came.” After the cancer returned following a resection surgery, Thompkins was referred to Joal Beane, MD, a surgical oncologist at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC – James). “It was a very advanced tumor — multifocal and arisen from multiple areas,” Beane says. “We were really behind the eight ball.” More about sarcoma: risks, symptoms and treatment options at The Ohio State University. Beane immediately went to work, teaming up with Thompkins and OSUCCC – James colleagues to develop and implement a new, comprehensive treatment approach. “With some good multidisciplinary treatment, we were able to get ahead of this,” Beane says. “Charles is still with us today thanks to an aggressive surgical approach and some fantastic technology and advancements from my medical oncology colleagues.” Since first meeting Beane in 2020, Thompkins has continued to pursue his passion as a community leader and advocate. Among his efforts was a project that raised nearly $8 million to renovate a neighborhood apartment complex. To honor Charles’ role in the effort, the complex was renamed Thompkins Village. “On that day of celebration, people honored me, and the mayor came in and announced that he was going to give me the key to the city,” Thompkins recalls. “To receive this honor was something that I never thought I would see.” Later, when an event was held to celebrate Thompkins’ work and present the key to the city, Beane was there to share the moment. “It made it all the more special to have my surgical doctor there with me that day,” Thompkins says. “That he came to my lifetime achievement celebration meant so much to me, my family and everyone who was there.” The occasion also meant a lot to Beane, whose six-year partnership with his patient has been a big part of Thompkins’ impact on the community. “Charles is a special guy, and we hit it off right away,” Beane says. “By helping him get back on his feet, we’re working on the same team to make things better for the rest of the world. “Sometimes you get so focused on the disease that you can forget about the true impact that treating a patient like Charles has, not only on him, but also in the community. That really is the big picture.” Thompkins believes it’s important to highlight the personal side of patient-doctor relationships to remind everyone that, in the end, we’re all part of the same team. “As human beings, we sometimes put doctors on a pedestal, and we forget that they're all human and that they have feelings just like we do — they care,” he says. That kind of human connection has inspired Thompkins throughout his life, which he’s dedicated to the betterment of his neighbors — a mission that resonates throughout his community and far beyond. “If you keep a person beside you, you know that they're always there. If you keep a person in front of you, then you can follow their footprints as you make your journey,” he says. “So, if you stumble, you can always remember what you went through to get to that point.” More about The James at Ohio State: Our multidisciplinary oncology experts work every day to create a cancer-free world through world-class care and research.