Man who inspired many dies in crash

BY KATHY STEVENS
Of The Post and Courier Staff
Printed October 3, 2003

A man who turned tragedy to triumph after losing his wife to cancer died early Friday in a single-car crash not far from his home on Wadmalaw Island.

Nick Scandalios, 41, was described by friends as a person who saw the good in everyone and helped them see beauty in themselves.

I knew he was a motivated person and had motivated a lot of people, but over the course of this day, I've realized just how many people he touched," said Russ Pritchard, a Scandalios' long-time friend. "We've had thousands of people across the country who are responding, calling."

Scandalios was on his way home around midnight Friday when he turned his 2000 Mercedes onto Long Creek Road, drove off the right side of the road and hit a drain pipe, which caused the car to turn over. He died at the scene from blunt force trauma, said Charleston County Deputy Coroner Rae Wooten.

Scandalios, a chiropractor turned consultant, was well-known in Charleston as was his late wife, Anne Lapolla Scandalios, who died in February 2001 from breast cancer at age 37.

After his wife's death, Scandalios told The Post and Courier, "It's how a person deals with adversity, how they emerge from it that matters. You have to choose whether you'll stay down and be a victim or stand up. Even a life that is full of adversity can be full of abundance."

He stood up, took charge as a single father of his then 4-year-old daughter and worked with dozens of friends who'd formed ASCEND (Anne Scandalios Cancer Ends Now Directive). Scandalios and his supporters worked tirelessly to promote early screening and lifestyle changes such as diet and exercise, eliminate cancer-causing agents from food and the environment and increase funding for research.

The support was overwhelming, and Scandalios expressed awe at the sheer number of people who rallied to help him and to support the foundation. ASCEND now is going strong with more than 700 volunteers in Charleston alone, Pritchard said.

"He was one of those people who just seemed so positive, so strong. It just doesn't make sense," Pritchard said about his friends' death. "He inspired people, no matter what their obstacles were, personal or professional, and had a natural ability to help people overcome things."

Pritchard and other close friends described Scandalios as a man who had strong family ties and enviable relationships with his parents, sisters and extended family.

"He loved his family immensely," Pritchard said and added that family members will care for Scandalios' daughter, Anna.

Scandalios was born in Warwick, R.I., and grew up with two older sisters in Fair Haven, N.J. He attended Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pa., for two years before obtaining his degree from Life Chiropractic College in Atlanta in 1985. He moved to Charleston that year to begin his practice.

He sold his practice in 1999 to concentrate on his wife's cancer treatment, and the pair spent a year and a half traveling to treatment facilities in Mexico, New York and North Carolina. The goal he was most passionate about called on Americans to eradicate cancer. Scandalios was convinced that if people knew what he and Anne learned about the disease, it would demand a cure.

Charleston lawyer Nicholas Clekis, a friend for more than 15 years, said Scandalios was generous, industrious, athletic and intelligent. "Those who knew him know what a great person he was. Those who didn't missed knowing someone like him."

"He was a man who wore many hats and who won many hearts," Clekis said.

The funeral is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Monday at the Greek Orthodox Church of Holy Trinity at 30 Race St. in Charleston. Visitation is scheduled for 4-8 p.m. Sunday at the James A. McAlister Funeral Home on Savannah Highway. In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to ASCEND Foundation, 4024 Salt Pointe Pky,Charleston, SC 29405.