LAS CRUCES, N.M. (KRQE) – One New Mexico State University fraternity is known for donating to cancer research. However, this year, it’s personal.

“You know, whenever you’re young, you think you’re invincible, and having something like Stage Four Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, which is very treatable, but at the same time, it’s also very scary to be diagnosed with,” said Kyle Richardson.

Kyle Richardson was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma when he was 16, at the height of the pandemic. Richardson went through immunotherapy and was in remission until last spring.

“I found a lymph node [on] my neck at the base right here, and I had to have a scan done to find out if it was cancerous again, and I found out that I had relapsed, and I was diagnosed with Stage Two Hodgkin’s Lymphoma again,” said Richardson.

Richardson is a member of the Sigma Chi Fraternity at NMSU, and even with his latest diagnosis, his brothers say that he is a bright light to them.

“If you ask anybody about Kyle, they’ll tell you that he is the happiest person on this earth. That dude always has a smile on his face. No matter what, he lets nothing, bring him down,” NMSU Sigma Chi Chapter President Damian Anaya.

Sigma Chi is known for their philanthropy with their donations all sent to the Huntsman Cancer Foundation. Now, with one of their own battling cancer, they have kicked things into high gear raising far more than they ever have before, the chapter averages around $5,000 a year. Last year, they raised just over $21,000 for cancer research. This year, in Richardson’s honor, more than $25,000 was raised.

“We just want to incorporate Kyle as much as possible, make sure he gets to health as soon as possible. So he can come and join us in the fall, because we all miss him, and we love him,” said Anaya.

With so many people in his corner, Richardson is excited to beat this and get back to pursuing his computer science degree alongside his brothers this fall.

“It might be hard for a season, and that season might be long, you know, it might be a year of rough times, but at the end of the day, like life always gets better,” Richardson said.

The members at Sigma Chi say their goal for next year is to raise $50,000 with the help of business donations and partnerships.