CKMC granted a Kiss of HOPE in April 2014 to Daniel, a wonderful young man referred to us by our friends at Lurie Children’s Hospital.   We were able to reach out to one of Daniel’s favorite celebrities, Robert Herjavec, and surprise him with an afternoon of fast “Shark Tank” talk and one fast car!

The Power of Daniel – Written by Robert Herjavec

Shark on ABC’s Shark Tank, Founder of Herjavec Group, Bestselling Author, Race Car Driver

There are few things in my life that surprise me – this is despite running a $125m global cyber security business tracking world-wide hackers, being a Star on ABC’s “Shark Tank” and driving Ferraris at 200 miles per hour. In early April 2014, I had the opportunity to speak at the International Car Wash Show with my fellow Shark, Daymond John.

More importantly, I had the opportunity to meet someone who truly surprised me; he was Daniel Wang, a brave, optimistic 16-year-old boy who has survived and beaten brain cancer for the past 3 1/2 years. It was through the Chicago-based charitable organization Cancer Kiss My Cooley organization that Daniel entered my life.

It’s All About the Attitude

I spent a half hour in the Ferrari driving around Chicago with big smiles coming from Daniel at every turn. But it was the quiet moments that were the most special. Daniel shared with me his feeling and challenges in the ongoing therapy with the most optimistic attitude I’ve ever heard anyone express.

Just Ask – Everyone is Willing to Help

We wanted to go above Daniel’s wish to meet me. He met Daymond and I in the green room before our speech. Daniel asked every question he could think of and Daymond and I gladly answered them. This was just the beginning of Daniel’s special day. We called Nick Mancuso from Lake Forest Sports Cars Limited in Chicago to provide a Ferrari California (Daniel’s favourite car) for us to drive and a backpack of Ferrari goodies to take home. Tyler McQuarrie, my racing coach, donated a Go Pro to install on the windshield to record our adventure and the Rosebud restaurant in Little Italy in Chicago provided a beautiful lunch to greet Daniel and his family when he showed up in his new ride with his favourite Shark. What a thrilling moment for the Wang family!

Motivation Goes Both Ways

I’m in the professional motivation business at my company, in my speeches and through my two books. I try my best to instill hope and optimism to each of the Shark Tank entrepreneurs who lay out their hearts and souls on the show for us to determine their fate. But Daniel was different. He provided me with more motivation than I could ever rally.