10/10/2025
In the early 90s, an 11-year-old boy named Tadas Sumauskas arrived at Corewell Health William Beaumont University Hospital from Lithuania, alone and battling a rare bone cancer. His family couldn’t afford to travel with him. They feared they might never see him again.
Diana Busuito, Tadas’ nurse and fellow Lithuanian, immediately stepped in. She cared for him medically and emotionally, with her mother even stepping in to deliver homemade meals.
Dr. Charles Main, the pediatric oncologist who treated Tadas, said, “I’ve worked with thousands of children with pediatric cancer - all heroes - but Tadas was the leader of the pack.”
Now living in Nevada with his wife and two children, Tadas still visits Diana and her now 94-year-old mom, Elena.
A few years ago, Diana gifted Tadas a Shinola watch that read, “When I met you, you were out of time. When you came to Michigan, you were given the gift of time.”
To Tadas and his family, that time has been well lived.
