Daily Read: Sports & Health
Kid Turns Grief Into Cancer‑Teaching Card Game
Daniel Zhang, inspired by his grandmother’s chemotherapy side‑effects and his grandfather’s cancer diagnosis, co‑created Tumor Tactics with classmate Zachary Tou at age 17. The card game, modeled after Pokémon, uses dice rolls to simulate chemotherapy effectiveness and recovery, teaching children the basics of cancer biology in a familiar format. The nonprofit now runs workshops in San Diego schools, reaching students from kindergarten through eighth grade. Each session ends with open discussion, allowing children to share personal stories and feel heard. The project demonstrates how personal loss can be transformed into an educational tool that supports young people’s understanding of serious illnesses.
The essential points
- 01Zhang and Tou designed a Pokémon‑style card game to explain cancer biology to kids
- 02The game uses dice to model chemotherapy effectiveness and side‑effect recovery
- 03Workshops run in San Diego schools for kindergarten to eighth‑grade students
- 04Sessions conclude with open discussion, encouraging children to share family stories
The full brief
Daniel Zhang, inspired by his grandmother’s chemotherapy side‑effects and his grandfather’s cancer diagnosis, co‑created Tumor Tactics with classmate Zachary Tou at age 17. The card game, modeled after Pokémon, uses dice rolls to simulate chemotherapy effectiveness and recovery, teaching children the basics of cancer biology in a familiar format. The nonprofit now runs workshops in San Diego schools, reaching students from kindergarten through eighth grade.
Each session ends with open discussion, allowing children to share personal stories and feel heard. The project demonstrates how personal loss can be transformed into an educational tool that supports young people’s understanding of serious illnesses.