Today we’d like to introduce you to Shawn Helms. He shares his story with us below:
• Current Position: Shawn Helms is the President and Founder of Helms Hope and a partner at the international law firm of McDermott Will and Emery.
• Early Years: Shawn grew up in Windsor, Missouri – a small, rural town with no stoplight that features eight churches, one bar, and one combined junior/senior high school. As a child and into his high school years, Shawn stuttered so severely he could barely communicate. He recalls being terrified to read in class or meeting new people. Shawn had many odd jobs growing up including mowing lawns, painting gas tanks, and working as a janitor at the local plastics plant.
• Family: Shawn and his future wife, Misty, went to kindergarten together in Windsor, Missouri. In junior high, Shawn started dating Misty Madole – who would become Misty Helms after they were married in college. Shawn and Misty have been married for 27 years and now live in Heath, Texas, and have had 6 children – Brittany, Shawn Jr., Noelle, Triniti, Skylin, and Josh. Shawn also has one grandchild – Shawn Fletcher Wilson (age 9 months).
• Education: Shawn was the first in his family to go to college. Upon graduation from Windsor High School, Shawn attended William Jewell College, a small liberal arts school just outside of Kansas City. Shawn received 3 Bachelor of Science degrees (Computer Information Systems, Economics, and Business Administration) from William Jewell College and graduated magna cum laude with leadership honors. Shawn went on to law school at Georgetown University Law Center and received his J.D., with honors, in 2000.
• Professional History: While attending law school at night, Shawn was the Chief Information Officer at the law firm of Williams & Connolly in Washington, DC. During this time, Shawn also served as an adjunct professor at the University of Virginia in its technology department. Shawn started his legal career in California and is now a partner and the global head of the Technology & Outsourcing practice at McDermott Will & Emery. In his legal practice, Shawn helps companies in the areas of information technology, outsourcing, blockchain, artificial intelligence (AI), digital health, and telecommunications. Shawn regularly works in blockchain and cryptocurrency matters including NFTs, DAOs, and enterprise blockchain applications. Shawn has authored or co-authored more than 30 books and articles on technology, outsourcing, and intellectual property legal issues. Shawn was named by Best Lawyers as the “Lawyer of the Year” in Information Technology Law in 2022 and 2023. Shawn has been interviewed and cited by several major news organizations including the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, NPR, Business Week, and CIO Magazine.
• Helms Hope – Shawn Helms Jr. was Shawn’s eldest son. He was a 21-year-old college student. In January of 2019, Shawn Jr’s back started hurting him. After trying to tough it out for a bit, he went to a local urgent care clinic. They told him not to worry, that he likely needed a new mattress, and prescribed him some muscle relaxers. They also said it might be kidney stones. Two weeks later, when his back was still hurting him, he scheduled a doctor’s appointment. The doctors took x-rays and found that Shawn’s right lung was 75% full of fluid. They assumed he had pneumonia. They prescribed him antibiotics and sent him to the pulmonologist who drained 2 liters of fluid off his lung. They said the color of the fluid was consistent with pneumonia, so they sent him home and said the antibiotics should make him better within a few days.
For the next week, Shawn Jr felt better. Shawn remembers him standing in the living room, with the relief of being able to use his right lung again saying, “I could run a marathon right now.” It wasn’t until later that Shawn Jr. told him that the doctors left him a voicemail saying that the fluid was not malignant (i.e., it was not cancer). They didn’t even know that they were testing for cancer.
A few days later, Shawn’s back was hurting him again. He was hesitant to go back to the doctor. Shawn Jr. went to tell his mom he was feeling bad and as he was walking to the kitchen, he became short of breath. They decided Shawn Jr. needed to go to the emergency room. The x-ray they took that night showed that his right lung had fluid again, but this time it was 100% full. They drained another 2 liters of fluid and transferred him to a larger hospital in Dallas. Shawn Jr. was admitted to the hospital. After 6 days of waiting, frustration, lots of tests, scans, and bloodwork, they had results.
Their life was changed in an instant. It was just Shawn, his wife Misty, and Shawn Jr. in the room. Misty recounts the story:
“A doctor came into the room. I didn’t think too much about it. These next moments are now etched in my mind forever. My son lying in pain in the hospital bed, the doctor sitting on the window ledge, my husband standing near the end of Jr’s bed, the nurse at the computer to my left, and I was sitting on a cot they had brought in for us to sleep on. Without any warning, the pulmonologist said that the results were back, and they showed a malignancy in the cells. I was shocked…just staring at the guy. Then my husband asked, “What does that mean?” It was a good question. I must have heard him wrong. But then the pulmonologist said it means Jr has cancer. Cancer! I thought they must be wrong. My husband almost fainted. Jr didn’t respond at all. I wondered if he even heard what was said.”
They ordered a PET scan and the nightmare got worse. Shawn Jr. had melanoma cancer and it had already metastasized to his lungs, kidney, shoulder, and bones. Upon hearing the news, they quickly transferred him to MD Anderson. They wanted him to be cared for by the world’s best melanoma doctors.
At the first MD Anderson appointment, they learned that the melanoma started on the top of Shawn’s head – on his scalp under his thick, black, curly hair. They never saw the spot until that day.
Over the next few months, Shawn Jr endured several major surgeries, drained his lung each day, fought terrible nausea, was extremely fatigued, received 3 two-medicine immunotherapy treatments, had a chemotherapy treatment, was continually short of breath, and spent the majority of his time in the hospital. He was miserable during the day and could not sleep at night.
Less than 4 months after his diagnosis, on July 11th, 2019, Shawn Jr died. Five days before, the doctors told him he wouldn’t make it through the night, but Shawn fought for every moment. In those last days, Shawn was surrounded by his family and best friends. Misty and Shawn were holding his hands when he took his final breath.
Shawn regularly blogged about the journey at www.shawnhelmsjr.com
Three days after Shawn’s death, in July of 2019, Shawn and his heartbroken family decided to do everything in their power to help as many families as possible avoid the pain of Shawn’s death. This inspired them to start the Helms Hope Foundation.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Fighting skin cancer is hard. People tend to not think about skin cancer or do anything to prevent or detect it. Furthermore, despite the fact that 1 in 5 people will develop skin cancer and the cases of skin cancer diagnosed outnumber all other cancers combined, skin cancer gets few resources or attention.
Shawn remembers when he was first told Shawn Jr had melanoma. He felt a sense of relief because it was “just skin cancer.” He didn’t realize that once melanoma metastasizes, it is one of the deadliest cancers in the world. He, like most others, was simply ignorant about the dangers of skin cancer. Because of a lack of knowledge, people tend to not take skin cancer seriously, despite the fact that 2 people die of skin cancer ever single hour in the United States.
Helms Hope wants to change the public’s perception of skin cancer. They know it is dangerous and needs to be taken seriously. They are working to raise awareness and get people to check their skin regularly. In fact, Helms Hope believes that if they could get everyone into the dermatologist once per year, skin cancer deaths could substantially be eliminated in the United States. However, as Shawn Helms acknowledged, changing human behavior is hard. He said, “My dentist cannot get me to floss, so we know getting people into the dermatologist once per year will be difficult.” Therefore, Helms Hope is doing what they can to ensure the public is aware of skin cancer (through information campaigns, presentations, and training), taking steps to prevent it (like wearing sunscreen), and encouraging steps to enable early detection (like self-exams and dermatology visits). More information on Helms Hope’s efforts can be found at helmshope.org.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
Helms Hope is a non-profit dedicated to advancing skin cancer awareness, prevention, and early detection with the goal of completely eliminating skin cancer deaths in America. Helms Hope is run by its Chief Operating Officer, Brittany Wilson. Brittany is Shawn Jr’s older sister and the oldest child of Shawn and Misty Helms. Brittany is the day-to-day hands and feet of the organization.
Helms Hope has been in operation for 3 years. A few of their activities in 2022 included:
Awareness Campaigns
• Put up 21 billboards around the DFW metroplex with an average of over 2.3 million impressions weekly.
• Hosted a holiday drive-in movie event for the Rockwall/Heath community on December 19, 2022. Over 400 people came to the event and received information on skin cancer (see highlights at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyQgV-C-dL0)
• Social media campaigns on Instagram & Facebook (@helms_hope)
• Placed signs, banners, and posters at frequently visited locations (e.g., pediatrician offices, schools, athletic complexes, etc.)
Prevention Activities
• Partnered with 360 Blue, a large luxury vacation rental company on Florida’s Emerald Coast (Destin – 30A) to provide “Safe Fun in the Sun” arrival packages including sunscreen, aloe, and informational literature for all guests upon arrival
• Led informational meetings for middle school & high school summer camps for counselors & parents of campers on best practices for sun safety
• Provided “Safe Fun in the Sun” goody bags containing infographics and sunscreen for children/teens at pediatricians’ offices around DFW
Early Detection Programs
• Presented at the Melanoma Research Alliance’s Annual Conference in Washington, D.C. The presentation was to educate partner foundations & advocates on how to host “How to Check Your Skin” seminars
• Conducted industry interviews & beta tested Helms Hope “Heroes Program” – the hair stylist training program to provide skin checks during hair appointments. Development of official content creation set to begin in early 2023
• Hosted “How to Check Your Skin” & “How to Protect Your Skin” webinars
While it is very difficult to quantitatively measure the success of Helms Hope, they are changing the narrative around skin cancer and seeing some results. An area of the Helms Hope website, called “Stories of Hope,” recounts the stories of individuals who were impacted by the efforts of Helms Hope. These include a story from Katie, age 29 and mother of 2 that said “I first learned about Helms Hope from a friend who knew the Helms Family personally. I knew I had a spot on my forehead that looked a little different from my other freckles, but I hadn’t thought much about it. My friend kept sharing Helms Hope posts on social media and after they popped up on my feed a couple more times, I finally clicked the link to make a dermatologist appointment. The spot on my forehead was precancerous – but they also found a spot of melanoma on the back of my shoulder! Helms Hope and my dermatologist saved my life!”
Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
Melanoma is extremely rare in young people. Shawn Jr had melanoma on his scalp, under his thick, black, curly hair. No one in the family ever noticed the spot of melanoma on top of his head. So, yeah, that was bad luck.
But, when Shawn Jr died the family said they were very fortunate to have an amazing support group around them including their family, friends, church, and law firm. It was also lucky that Shawn had the legal background and experience to quickly establish the establishment of Helms Hope.
Contact Info:
- Website: helmshope.org
- Instagram: @helms_hope
- Facebook: @helmshope
- Youtube: @helmshopefoundation
Image Credits
Joseph Pelegreen
