A rubber duck that kept him company in the bathtub was the only thing Devin Nakasone could pour out his heart to when he was stricken with leukemia at 11.

"I would cry in the bathroom. My body was in pain and I would sit in the tub and bring it (the duck) with me. It was easy to cry in there because water would be running. It was the most painful thing, every day wondering if I was going to die."

Nakasone, an only child living with his parents in Red Hill almost 30 years ago, went though four years of chemotherapy. "My best friend became a rubber ducky," he said.

The iconic childhood toy, which he simply called "Ducky," became a personal symbol he clung to even as an adult, collecting them in every color, design and material. It represented comfort, compassion and communication — everything he yearned for from his parents, who loved him, but were too overwhelmed by the stress of his illness to fill his emotional needs, he said.

In 2011, Nakasone and a bunch of his musician friends formed the nonprofit Prayers on Wings, also called POW, described in its brochures as a way to "build bridges of communication between children in crisis and their families, one feather at a time."

The group doesn’t espouse any religion, but Nakasone is a devout Christian.

POW’s main method of operation is to hold workshops where parents, siblings and patients attend together to paint rubber ducks any way they choose. The hope is that bonds will be created in the process.

At the beginning of the workshops, Nakasone shares the story of his illness and encourages participants to "open their hearts to listen to the other person." The participants can exchange their finished ducks, which can serve as reminders of the time spent together and, perhaps, promises to communicate made that day.

Recently, the U.S. Junior Chamber named Nakasone one of its 2013 Ten Outstanding Young Americans under age 40, which puts him in the company of former presidents Bill Clinton and John F. Kennedy, Elvis Presley, and late U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye, according to a Jaycee news release. This year’s winners will be honored June 8 in Seattle at the 75th annual awards ceremony.

"I do what I do for the ones that didn’t make it," Nakasone said, referring to the other leukemia patients who became his only friends. "It was the most painful thing, watching my friends drop off one by one," and healthy kids didn’t want to be around someone known as "the sick child," Nakasone recalled.

Although he emphasized, "I had the best parents I could ever ask for," he felt guilty about being sick because his parents argued constantly under the pressure of seeing him suffer and taking care of him, a common occurrence with families in crisis. His emotions seesawed from fearing death to wishing he was never born, he said.

The trauma of the illness "still haunted me" years after his treatment was over, and Nakasone became suicidal and addicted to crystal methamphetamine, or ice, for 10 years. He found the strength to quit the drug in 1999 and, in moving forward, decided to make it his mission to give every ill child a rubber duck, because "I didn’t want another child to go through what I went through," he said.

He sees the duck as a symbol of encouragement for family members to take the time to ask each other: "How was your day? Is there anything you want to tell me? You can tell me anything."

By day Nakasone is an employee of the Hawaii Public Housing Authority, and by night he pursues his passion as a singer of all styles of music.

Sharlene Aoki, publicist and executive director of Prayers on Wings, is in three bands with Nakasone; his ex-wife, Kristen Kekoa-Nakasone, is on the board of directors; and 120 musicians volunteer to play in the POW Jam Band benefit concerts "for any cause in need of entertainment."

The band is holding its annual fundraising concert May 26 at Dot’s in Wahiawa and also celebrating Nakasone’s 40th birthday, which was on May 16.

The group has partnered with the Hawaii Children’s Cancer Foundation, Kapiolani Medical Center for Women and Children (Neo-Natal Intensive Care Unit), March of Dimes, Kardiac Kids and other agencies. Visit www.prayerson­wings.webs.com.

———

Correction: The correct number to call for information about the May 26 benefit concert at Dot’s in Wahiawa is 341-5820. Also, a previous version of this story said the Prayers on Wings Jam Band has 20 musicians, not 120.