Way to Go!: Nicholas Stiles of East Islip

Nicholas Stiles believes that many hospitals are missing a key type of therapy: video games.

Stiles, a senior at East Islip High School, spearheaded the collection of more than 150 video games -- for systems ranging from Sony PlayStation to Nintendo GameCube -- that he donated to Good Samaritan Hospital Medical Center in West Islip.

The idea stemmed from a visit last year to Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in Manhattan during his grandmother's spinal surgery, when he saw families sitting for hours as they awaited surgery results.

"Characters like Sonic [the Hedgehog] and Mario often take the blame for child obesity," said Stiles. But, he added, "I feel they serve a real purpose: They can distract patients from the horrors they are facing."

To collect the video games, Stiles asked students at three East Islip elementary schools -- Ruth C. Kinney, John F. Kennedy and Connetquot -- to donate used games during the winter. He also reached out to fellow members of Boy Scout Troop 205 for help in gathering the games.

At East Islip High School Stiles plays cello and is an AP Scholar. He is working toward attaining the Eagle Scout rank and is training to obtain a pilot's license.