Cancer can’t dim this young Swiftie’s spirit

By Maureen Gilmer, Riley Children’s Health senior writer, mgilmer1@iuhealth.org

Taylor Swift, are you listening? There is a young fan of yours in Indianapolis who has faced a grueling battle with cancer, and she is “Fearless.”

Ava O’Brien, 11, is willing herself to be cancer-free by the time the mega-entertainer arrives in Indianapolis on Nov. 1 for the first of three sold-out shows.

Call it luck or fate or a blessing from above, but Ava has a much-coveted ticket to that first show, which lines up with the expected end of her chemotherapy and radiation, and she is ready to “Shake It Off.”

The Franklin Township sixth-grader was diagnosed in January with Ewing sarcoma, a rare cancer that most often forms in the bones and typically strikes teens and young adults.

For Ava, the news came after a collision on the basketball court. The talented young athlete who also plays volleyball came crashing down to the court after going up for a rebound during a travel game Jan. 14.

She didn’t get up.

That in itself was unusual, said Ava’s mom, Rebekah O’Brien, who describes her eldest daughter as “unnaturally strong” and “one of the toughest kids” she knows.

“When she was born, she was actually flexing,” Rebekah likes to say.

Her toughness comes naturally. Her dad is former UFC fighter Jake O’Brien. But he’s a softie when it comes to the couple’s daughters, Ava and Alex, 8.

“My husband is physically the strongest person, but when it comes to the kids, he’s a soft, big bear,” she said.

When Ava went down on the court that January day, her parents, coach and players came to her aid. Even her former pediatrician, who just happened to be at the game, came to check on her.

Ava was able to walk off the court with help, so her parents took her home, but Rebekah had a bad feeling. The next morning, she took her to get X-rays to see if anything was broken.

Not only was her femur broken close to the hip, the image showed the entire bone had been eaten away by what appeared to be a tumor.

After discussing her care with doctors and with friends who had experience with the oncology team at Riley Children’s Health, the O’Briens reached out to Riley and got a plan together quickly to attack the cancer, which had spread from the bone in her right leg to her spine and lungs.

Her treatment began with six rounds of chemotherapy, followed by scans to see how much the tumor had shrunk. In May, Riley orthopedic surgeon Dr. L. Daniel Wurtz removed 9 inches of her femur bone and the hip ball joint, replacing the joint and the bone with a metal implant.

She used a wheelchair for eight weeks, before graduating to a walker and now gets around fairly easily. She works with a physical therapist and walks everyday to help rebuild her bone.

After healing from surgery, chemotherapy began once again, and Ava is just finishing her 14^th and final round this week at Riley. She will then undergo radiation for a few weeks, which should put the end of her treatment just before Halloween (Oct. 31).

Ava has already decided that she is dressing up as Cruella de Vil, perfect because the costume comes with a cane, ideal for walking the neighborhood trick-or-treating.

The next day she’ll be dressing up again for Taylor’s concert at Lucas Oil Stadium, joined by her family and tens of thousands of Swifties like her. Indianapolis is the last U.S. stop on the Eras Tour before the singer moves on to Canada.

“That will be a big party,” Rebekah said as she helped her daughter up the stairs to show off the girl’s bedroom overlooking a neighborhood pond.

As Ava settles onto her bed surrounded by Taylor posters and pictures, along with a vast array of stuffed animals, she contemplates her outfit for that magical night in November.

“Something purple,” she declares. “I don’t know exactly what yet.”

No doubt her accessories will include some of the friendship bracelets Swifties are known to trade with one another, along with Ava’s own bracelets signaling her fight against cancer.

As they look forward to the end of treatment and the beginning of life after cancer, Rebekah acknowledges it’s hard to imagine how they would have gotten through the past eight months without their own fan club of family and friends, as well as their strong faith and the Riley team, including Dr. Terry Vik and Dr. Thomas C. Fisher-Heath.

“There are too many people to name,” she said. “It just makes you feel so loved.”

Ava does her schoolwork at home these days but looks forward to returning to the classroom in the fall. She and her mom plan outings every day, even if it’s just to Target, and Ava loves building complicated LEGO sets. Most recently, she completed a Hocus Pocus house on the kitchen table.

“She’s pretty much good at everything,” her mom says. “I say she’s the best kind of smart because she is good at thinking and figuring things out.”

Family photos taken last year show Ava with long, fiery red hair, offering a hint into her personality.

Just like her dad, she’s a fighter. But it’s her mom who always keeps her focused on moving forward.

“Honestly, for an 11-year-old kid, not only her body but her mind is so strong,” said Rebekah, who models that strength.

“I don’t break down in front of her ever,” Rebekah said during a private conversation away from her daughter.

Only then did Rebekah cry, saying, “I have to be that person for her who is always strong, so she knows it’s going to be OK.”

And after one tough year, Ava is ready to “Begin Again.”

Photos submitted and by Mike Dickbernd, IU Health visual journalist, mdickbernd@iuhealth.org