BOSTON -- Even before he entered the room, Marcus Smart felt the familiar pang of nerves. Every visit to Boston Children's Hospital leaves Smart feeling inspired but also comes with the unavoidable flood of emotion due to all the reminders of the older brother he lost to cancer more than a decade ago.
Navigating the sixth floor at Children's, where most of the hospital's in-patient pediatric oncology services are rendered, Smart breathed deep on a September afternoon in 2016 then turned the corner into Sammy Dubois' room.
And then came the unexpected hail storm of Nerf darts.