After surviving cancer as a teen, Luke Bonte returns to the bedside. This time as a nurse.

At 16, Luke Bonte thought his future might involve football. Maybe manufacturing. Maybe becoming a mechanic. 

A career in nursing wasn't really on the radar. 

Then, during a St. Francis High School football practice in August 2017, Luke collapsed on the field. He was ultimately diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma and began cancer treatment. 

Suddenly, Luke was spending a lot more time around nurses. And he began to pay attention. 

"They make the hospital go ‘round," Luke remembers. "They can make or break your entire stay." 

That experience eventually sent Luke on a path his teenage self never could have imagined. 

Today, he's an oncology nurse at Fairview Southdale Hospital. 

Finding his way back 

Cancer temporarily took Luke off the football field. 

After months of treatment and hospital visits, Luke worked his way back to the field during his senior year. His comeback later earned him the Star Tribune's 2019 Courage in Competition award.  

By then, another goal was beginning to eclipse the one he'd once had for football. 

Luke wanted to become a nurse. 

He graduated from Minnesota State University, Mankato, with a bachelor's degree in nursing in 2024.  

Ask him now what 16-year-old Luke would think about seeing himself preparing chemotherapy for another person, and he laughs. 

"I'd be pretty shocked," he said. "I never really thought of myself as a smart kid growing up either. So putting in the dedication to get through school and getting to the point where I was at, I think my younger self would be pretty proud and shocked." 

Football remained important to him. But his definition of purpose had changed. 

"I think I dedicated myself to something a little bigger,” he said. 

Knowing what it feels like to wait 

Luke's cancer history doesn't come up in conversation with every patient. He usually waits until a relationship has formed or until sharing something about his experience could help. 

But what he learned as a patient certainly influences almost every interaction. 

Luke remembers what it feels like when someone says they'll be right back with pain medication or return in 15 minutes to see whether nausea has improved. 

And he remembers what happens when they don't. For a busy nurse, a forgotten request may seem small. For the person lying in the hospital bed, Luke says, those moments accumulate. 

"Your spirits kind of get deflated after a while when things don't play out," he said. 

When Luke begins a shift, he tries to give his patients a clear idea of what the night will look like and what they can expect from him. Then he tries to keep his word. 

"It's the little things nurses do that really make the hospital sing," Luke said. 

Those "little things" might mean making another trip into the room when he said he would. It could mean helping a patient figure out when they'll be able to shower.  

Or it can mean hunting for food in the middle of the night. Luke has made late-night trips to other hospital units looking for meals for patients whose food restriction orders were finally lifted after the kitchen closed. 

Ten extra minutes for the nurse. A meal after a long, difficult day for the patient. 

"Those little things mean a lot to a hungry and tired patient," he said. 

A connection he doesn't take for granted 

There are also moments when Luke's personal experience creates an immediate connection. 

Cancer treatment caused complications that eventually required both of Luke's hips to be replaced. He's also experienced pancreatitis and spent years with an implanted port. 

Those experiences sometimes become common ground. He remembers one oncology patient who had been fairly quiet. When the two began talking about joint replacement, Luke mentioned that he had undergone it himself because of complications from cancer treatment. 

The conversation changed. 

"They end up opening up a lot more once they hear that," Luke said. "They ask for my perspective." 

It doesn't mean Luke knows exactly how another patient feels. He is quick to point out that every person's diagnosis and experience are different. But he knows what it's like to have cancer change the rhythm of everyday life. 

He knows what it's like to hurt. 

And he knows what it feels like to spend enough time in a hospital that even seemingly small things matter. 

From receiving chemotherapy to giving it 

Years after receiving chemotherapy himself, Luke completed the training that allowed him to administer chemotherapy to his own patients. 

He remembers his first chemotherapy patient particularly well. 

Luke cared for her regularly, watched her move through treatment, and got to know her along the way. She shared her experiences. He shared some of his. 

"It was nice to get to know her and just see the whole process and be on the other side of the actual medical part of it," he said. 

Luke has since added another role. He's recently begun working as a charge nurse, an early step into nursing leadership. 

But the philosophy he carries into every shift is still rooted in what he learned years ago as a teenager in a hospital bed. 

Have an open mind. Treat the person, not just the diagnosis. Follow through. And when possible, make the hospital stay a little easier than it might otherwise have been. 

His final piece of oncology nursing wisdom is somewhat more practical. 

"Trust your gut," Luke said. 

"And always have Zofran ready." 

Watch KARE 11's story on Luke's cancer journey.