Lincoln and Norrin Niece: 2026 Riley Champions presented by Kroger

“He only knows like 16 presidents.” “Well, I know the states!”

After Norrin Niece finished naming every U.S. president in chronological order, he and his older brother, Lincoln, exchanged that friendly banter. Like many siblings, the Niece brothers enjoy competition. But unlike many siblings, the Niece brothers enjoy competition while sharing the same scar on the back of their heads.

Lincoln and Norrin — and their younger brother Remley — were each diagnosed with Chiari malformation, a rare condition where extra brain matter comes down the skull. Symptoms can include headaches, vomiting and balance problems, each of which Ron and Whitney Niece saw in their sons. They each required brain surgery from Laurie Ackerman, M.D., a pediatric surgeon at Riley Children’s Health, between March 2023 and January 2024.

“Watching them all have the decompression surgery, it was hard,” Ron said. “But there was a layer of comfort that they’re in the best hands that they could be in, so there’s no sense of worry. That’s not going to do good for anybody.”

“I call myself the test subject,” Lincoln jokes.

Riley had already held a special place in the Nieces' hearts — and literally Lincoln’s — before these diagnoses. Lincoln was born with a congenital heart defect, Tetralogy of Fallot with pulmonary artesia, and was rushed to Riley Hospital for Children just 24 hours after being born. He stayed at Riley Hospital for 11 days in the NICU and needed three open-heart surgeries before turning 3 years old.

“It was a rollercoaster of emotions getting to hold your firstborn to a few hours later being LifeLine to Riley,” Ron said. “As a parent in that situation, you feel so helpless, but Riley had confident answers and a plan in place.”

Whitney remembers crying with Mark Rodefeld, M.D., a pediatric cardiothoracic surgeon at Riley, as everything was explained.

“He took both my hands, and he said, ‘Whatever you want to ask me, I am not going to sugarcoat it. I am going to be honest with you,’” Whitney said. “And that was probably the most reassuring thing. He answered with so much clarity.”

Before Lincoln was born, Ron and Whitney fundraised consecutive years for Riley Children’s Foundation through Extra Life, a gaming program of Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. It started as an excuse for the two of them and a friend to stay up for 24 hours playing games for a good cause. Now it’s grown to about 45 attendees and has taken on an even sweeter meaning as their Riley Champions Lincoln and Norrin get to put their competitiveness to fundraising for Riley.

In 2024, they raised the most money yet through their annual gaming event, which was enough to hit their $5,000 goal and release a Riley red wagon into the fleet. They just completed their 13th year of fundraising.

“We’re playing for not only our boys but everybody that we’ve come in contact with that’s said how Riley has changed their kid’s life,” Whitney said.