But needles are only part of Paddy’s story. There’s also the so-bad-you-cry pain in his left leg, and the deep fatigue that turned out to be a cancer early warning sign. There are blood tests and biopsies and five-day hospital stays every two weeks for chemo. There’s his mom, Alma, asleep by his hospital bedside every single night, and his dad, Mark, holding the hand of a son in post-chemo slumber. There’s his brother, Barry, bringing Paddy his favorite blanket and bearing the anger when Paddy, home from chemo, found Barry playing video games, living a normal life.

NEEDLES

Needles, my worst enemy. Here’s the good part of needles: Sometimes they are sharp and slide right through your skin like a knife through butter. So, if you think this is bad, wait to hear what’s next. I’m a cancer patient at UCSF and when I’m not there I have to get a shot to keep my immune system working. The bad shots are like having liquid nitrogen going into my leg through a syringe. One of these needles is as thick as a toothpick which goes into my port; it doesn’t hurt at all. That big needle helps chemo, saline, pain and nausea meds flow through my body. After all of this, needles are curing me of cancer. Needles, they turn out to be my best friend.

Paddy O'Brien

There are the moms of friends and friends of Mom’s who sat with Paddy while his parents worked to maintain the insurance that made treatment possible. There are the little kids still fighting cancer at UCSF, who look up to Paddy, and the caregivers inspired by his never-fail positive attitude.

There’s the year off school (the good part!) and the months of not knowing if Paddy would lose his leg. There’s Paddy’s hair, which turned pitch-black and fell out (he saved it). There’s the radiation therapy that left Paddy’s leg raw, and red as a stop sign. And there are the cookies—baked by Paddy’s family and friends in pre-chemo marathons, enough to feed 10 hospital shifts.

Here’s the best part so far: In spring, birds built nests from strands of Paddy’s lost hair, released in the garden last winter. Paddy’s grades have improved so much, he’s made the Principal’s List—remarkable in a year when cancer treatments came before classes. And tests show Paddy to be cancer-free. As for the future, Paddy’s mom thinks his talents might some day take him into a career in communications, or even fundraising. Paddy knows a good cause when he sees one, she says—and he has a story to tell.