Many are ‘lighting it green’ for a local teen with terminal cancer and his unique bucket list

IDAHO FALLS — Dominic Nunez knows his time isn’t up yet.

Ever since his diagnosis of brain cancer in December 2024, Dom has reiterated one sentence to carry him through.

“I’m not done living.”

At 16 years old, “Dom”, then a junior at Thunder Ridge High School, was diagnosed, going through 42 weeks of chemotherapy and 28 rounds of radiation.

“A week after he completed chemotherapy, he had a stroke,” says Dom’s mom, Shanna Nunez. “And that’s when we learned that he was diagnosed with Rhabdomyosarcoma.”

According to the American Cancer Society, Rhabdomyosarcoma is “a rare type of cancer that forms in skeletal muscle tissue—the voluntary muscles the body uses to move.”

At the time of this specific diagnosis, doctors told Dom and his family, including his mother, father, two brothers, and a sister, that he was already at stage 4, and that the tumor was metastatic.

Dom went through more radiation, targeting his brain and spine, until scans showed no new evidence of disease.

Soon after the new scans, a friend of the family, and creator of the Rally Humans organization, Devin Hess, made it possible for Dom to travel to Tijuana, Mexico for holistic treatment at Hope4Cancer.

“(Hess) did a fundraiser and raised money to get Dominic down to Mexico to a place called Hope4Cancer, and we were there for three weeks,” says Shanna. “We had a whole regimen that was created just for Dom that included red light therapies and different holistic-type treatments.”

Dom returned to Idaho Falls and graduated from high school in May.

On June 1, the Nunez family traveled to Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City for more scans of Dom’s brain and received news they had been dreading. There was a new brain tumor, and Dom was given six months to live.

That same day, Devin and Dom decided to take their minds off the stress of the new diagnosis and headed to the gun range for some quality time.

“While they were there, they created a bucket list,” says Shanna. “And this bucket list included some wild things.”

They ranged from driving a sports car to riding a bull, to running a 5K, to “stealing” the Michelin Man. Since then, Dom has nearly done it all.

“He was able to, in two months, cross off so much from his bucket list,” says Shanna.

In a nod to the F*** Cancer Foundation, Dom and Devin call the bucket list the “F*** It” list.

Dom’s adventures have been documented on Hess’ Facebook page and on Shanna’s, called DOMinating Cancer.

“He did learn how to surf, he went to California with a couple of his buddies and enjoyed a couple of days on the beach,” says Shanna. “He did run in a 5K, with the specifics that ‘I want to be able to run a 5K without needing medical intervention afterward.’ And he managed not to need medical attention afterward.”

Dom also drove a Lamborghini, got matching tattoos with his brothers, and attended a concert of one of his favorite artist, Post Malone. In mid-August, Dom was planning to take a trip to las Vegas to visit an Air Force base and fly in a fighter jet – but unfortunately, life had other plans.

On Aug. 9, Dom began having seizures, just one day before he was scheduled to start chemotherapy.

“We took him into the emergency room, and again, they transported him down to Primary Children’s, and he ended up in the ICU for a few days,” says Shanna. “At this point, we were given a couple of different options.”

According to Shanna, doctors told Dom’s parents that they had three options: 1) place a shunt to drain fluid from Dom’s brain to his stomach, which could cause cancer in his stomach, 2) try more chemotherapy through a surgically implanted port, or 3) stop treatment and make Dom comfortable.

“Once they intubated him, there was like a 90% chance that he would never be extubated. So he would essentially have a breathing tube for his remaining days,” says Shanna. “My husband and I had to kind of weigh the pros and cons, and our last option was to do nothing.”

With all that Dom has been through, Shanna and her husband say they couldn’t bear taking away Dom’s ability to communicate during his last days by giving him a breathing tube.

“We did what we felt was best for Dominic, and I know that Dominic is all about quality. I’m not saying that he doesn’t want more time, he does, so badly,” says Shanna. “One of the first things he said when he had his stroke was, ‘I’m not done living.'”

Through it all, and especially through the new and extremely difficult developments, Shanna says the community support has been incredible and overwhelming in the best way.

“The amount of messages I’ve received from people all across the country, even the world, (that have said) ‘Dominic is such an inspiration, and he’s reminding us what it is to truly live,'” says Shanna. “It’s incredible. And the outpouring of support kind of brings us to where we’re at now.”

Last week, Shanna received a text from a friend, Vaughn Nichols, asking, “What is Dom’s favorite color?”

“I was like, green. Didn’t think anything of it,” says Shanna. “A couple of days later, he texted me a post in his neighborhood community page, and it says, ‘Light it up for Dom.'”

Nichols created the “Light it Green for Dom” project, asking anyone and everyone to light their homes, porches, house lights and anything else in green, in honor and support of Dom and his family. At first, it was his neighborhood. Then it was cities across Idaho Falls, and eastern Idaho, and now it has lit up homes and businesses across the country.

“There’s some in Minnesota, Texas, Colorado, Arizona, Washington,” says Shanna. “I try to tell Dom … he’s my hero because he truly is. Every time we see a green light, it’s just a little reminder of how loved he is and how many people are standing beside him and our family.”

When Dom was first diagnosed, Shanna says she was confused. As a Christian, Shanna believes that people die after completing their God-given purpose. But Dom was only 16, so what was his purpose?

“I remember sitting there and thinking, what could Dom’s purpose have been?” says Shanna. “Just in these last few months, with the help of our angels, Devin and Tyler, (Dom) has shown people and inspired people, and reminded people to truly live.”