Truly a Miracle
By Louise Brass
Suburban Chicago News
Alicia O’Brien can be compared to a sunbeam, shining through the clouds created by the rare cancer that has come, uninvited, into her brain.
The 14-year-old graduate of Alex M Martino Junior High School in New Lenox brings a special kind of love to those who know her.
She freely shares an endearing smile. She loves hugs. When she speaks her voice is unsteady, but her words are sure. Her big green eyes light up as she talks about what it is that keeps her going forward into an uncertain future.
”Hugs are the best. I love getting hugs. Hugs always make you feel good,” she said. She has learned to make the best of everything-even being in a wheelchair most of the time.
”Right now in my life I don’t know what’s going to happen. I just say that doctors make predictions, but God makes miracles. I know there’s a reason I’ve gotten this far. I get my courage from faith,” she said.
Alicia trusts God. “When I started doing that, I started inspiring other people, and I saw how cool that was,” she said.
A special day
Her courage was recognized at the eighth-grade graduation ceremonies May 31 at Martino Junior High School. Martino is one of only 198 schools in the United States to be declared a Blue Ribbon National School of Excellence. This year it had its largest graduating class (470 students) ever. But it was Alicia’s bravery that inspired the only standing ovation at the ceremonies. Some 2,000 people in attendance stood and cheered for her as she received her diploma.
”She just brings so much joy to our school,” said Regina Millner, office manager to the principal at Martino. “When she is here during the daytime it is different. When she can’t make it for the day we had students that are sad and depressed that she is not here. She lights up the school.”
Getting a standing ovation was “awesome,” Alicia said. “I was amazed. It was just an overwhelming feeling of happiness. It was so cool.”
For three years a rare form of cancer has been spreading in her, despite the best treatment modern medicine can offer. In January it was learned that the cancer had spread to her spine, making walking difficult.
Her mother, April DiSandro, a sergeant with the New Lenox Police Department, recently married Nick DiSandro of New Lenox. Her daughter was a bridesmaid and, as is her habit with special occasions, Alicia wrote a poem to commemorate the event.
But, no matter what the occasion, the shadow of cancer constantly follows the family around.
“It’s hard. It’s like somebody ripping your heart out, knowing she is not going to get the opportunity to get to do a lot of things. It’s hard,” DiSandro said.
On May 11, the entire community of New Lenox honored its favorite teen-ager with a big surprise. It began when DiSandro suggested to Alicia that she dress up for school. Eighth grade pictures would be taken that day, her mother said. But it was more than just pictures.
Alicia was in disbelief when a limousine arrived to take her to school in style. When she got to Martino she was greeted by New Lenox Mayor Michael Smith, Principal Del Bitter and the entire student body. Family members, including her brothers, Alan, 13, and Sean, 4, were also there for what was proclaimed “Alicia O’Brien Day” in the village.
“Alicia O’Brien has faced many hardships, including brain cancer, and through all of these times she has shown tremendous hope, courage, and faith,” Smith proclaimed.
Writing poems has helped her keep her balance through the difficult ordeal. She was also the inspiration and did illustrations, for the book “Zink” by Cherie Bennett. The novelist and her husband Jeff Gottesfeld flew in from California to share in “Alicia O’Brien Day” and the reception at the junior high.
Bennett had contacted Alicia after receiving a fan letter from her three years ago. At the time, Bennett was doing research for a book about 13-year olds who volunteer at a hospital. That work of fiction was part of a trilogy published by Troll Publishing.
“We became like phone and letter pals. Alicia was hilariously funny. She is a very, very funny girl,” said Bennett.
Bennett asked Alicia to be the consultant and illustrator for the book “Zink” dealing with childhood cancer.
“It’s truly a miracle, all the people she’s touched,” said her grandmother Bobbi Fenn. “When she has a bad day and she has to stay home, she is just miserable. She wants to be at school.”
The junior high gymnasium was filled with kids with high spirits on “Alicia O’Brien Day.” As pop music played, friends surrounded her every minute.
“It was so cool. This was a most awesome day. I couldn’t stop crying. It’s been the longest time since I had a good cry. It just flowed like a faucet,” Alicia said.
Her close friend Cammi Ingram said the reception was the hardest secret she has ever had to keep from Alicia, admitting that she doesn’t usually keep secrets. But for this special friend she did.
“She was so surprised. It was cool,” said Nate Fazio, Alicia’s friend since second grade.
The big dance
On the afternoon of the most recent eighth-grade dance at Martino, while sitting on the carpeted staircase at home waiting for a special limousine to take her to the beauty salon for “the works,” Alicia fingered a golden tiara that sparkled with diamond-like gems. “I feel like Cinderella,” she said softly.
By evening she looked like a princess, dressed in a gold satin gown, with strawberry blond highlights in her brown hair which was done up in curls. She looked like any excited teen-ager going to a prom. Her cancer was almost forgotten for a night.
Eight friends joined her for the noisy limo ride to the dance at the junior high, and for dinner afterwards. The limo was sponsored by the “Wish Upon A Star” organization of Joliet.
Alicia’s battle with cancer has including coping with nausea caused by chemotherapy and drugs, and having a shunt installed to help transmit fluid between her brain and spine. The shunt prevents the brain from touching the skull when the head moves- such as when dancing to rock music.
According to Dr. Steward Goldman, medical director of Neuro-oncology at Children’s Memorial Hospital in Chicago, there are only 2,500 pediatric cases of this type in the United States in children under 16 years of age.
About 60 percent of children with brain tumors survive at least five years after diagnosis, according to the National Institutes for Health, which recently announced funding for the Pediatric Brain Tumor Consortium, a network of medical centers that evaluate potential treatments for children with brain malignancies.
But despite the best of modern therapy, Alicia’s low grade glioma has spread to more parts of her brain and is very hard to treat, Goldman said.
”She is a wonderful girl, with terrific parents, and a wonderful family. I would like to see her live forever. She has taught me so much about life.”
Dan Fenn said his graddaughter is truly a blessing to those who know her, not just for her courageous spirit in the face of such hardship, but for her talents.
“It’s just amazing how a 14-year old can write the way she does.”
She writes both serious and goofy poems. One will be published in “Teen Ink” magazine in June.
He said that the whole town of New Lenox has just poured out its heart to his granddaughter. “It’s just amazing the thigns they have done for Alicia.”
But it’s clear, Alicia O’Brien has done a lot for them.
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