Molly and Russ O'Neill
One family, two heroes
Molly O'Neill and her brother Russ
Molly O'Neill is a huge Red Sox fan and an 11-year-old leukemia patient, so she was thrilled to see the Sox close out their World Series-winning season last month behind pitcher Jon Lester and third baseman Mike Lowell – both fellow cancer survivors.
When it comes to inspiration, however, Molly usually looks much closer to home than Fenway Park. Her biggest hero is her big brother Russ, a first lieutenant in the Army National Guard, currently stationed in Iraq.
The last couple of years have been long ones for both of them. Molly was diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) in May 2006, and is undergoing a two-year-plus treatment regimen at Dana-Farber's Jimmy Fund Clinic. Russ, a 25-year-old graduate of UMass Amherst, has spent most of the same period either training or on duty: first as a Brookline police officer, then helping lead an engineering unit whose Iraq missions have included detecting bombs and other explosive devices.
Since starting his tour in August, Russ has had only sporadic contact with the family – which also includes mom Sarah, dad Steve, and another brother, Danny. He's no longer there to comfort Molly during the chemotherapy infusion sessions she must undergo weekly at the clinic, as well as the nightly regimen of medications and injections she goes through at their Brookline home a mile away.
Molly sends him drawings, and homemade necklaces, with family and camouflage the recurring themes. She's also organizing a sixth-grade letter-writing campaign at her elementary school so Russ and his buddies are sure to get mail for the holidays. Mostly, she just counts the days until his return, hopefully sometime next summer or fall.
"We have a really big relationship; he's helped me get through the things I don't like in treatment," says Molly. Such assistance has included feeding her ice and apple sauce to mask the taste of incoming medicines, then providing ice cream "chasers" once the pills are down.
For Russ, the grit shown by his youngest sibling has been a revelation. "I've said it a bunch of times – she's the biggest hero in the family, by far," he stated just before his August departure. "I couldn't be more proud of her. What she's done is certainly tougher than anything I've done, or will do."
Russ with Molly and his dog, Jackson, before his deployment to Iraq
Needed boost
These feelings explain, in part, why when Molly started losing her long, light-brown hair last spring, Russ suggested that they shave their heads together. "That gesture helped her accept going bald," says Steve O'Neill. "He's provided a great distraction and comfort to her, and she in turn draws from him. She knows how hard his work is, and the commitment it takes. That makes her want to work hard to get through cancer."
This determination has often been needed. The first three months of Molly's treatment last year included numerous hospitalizations for infections, chicken pox, seizures, and other adverse reactions. When she was able to sleep at home, she looked forward to late-night talks and video games with Russ when he returned from his police work. Other times, they watched Red Sox games or sitcoms together while she took her twice-daily medications and shots.
"He was the boost she needed," says Sarah O'Neill. "He'd get her to do all kinds of things that it was hard for her to do. Russ was just awesome." Twenty-three-year-old Danny calls his sister and brother "heroes with big hearts who know what they need to do." Once Molly's condition had stabilized, she and Russ were even able to take advantage of the family's season tickets and go to a Red Sox game together.
The O'Neill family at Fenway Park
They were also interviewed live on TV at Fenway Park during the WEEI/NESN Jimmy Fund Radio-Telethon on Aug. 17, when Molly told NESN reporter Kathryn Tappen that "at first I was really mad to have it [cancer], but now I've gotten really used to it. I love coming to the Jimmy Fund Clinic."
The big guy standing next to her was a major reason for this transformation, and when Tappen asked Russ what it was like to see Molly again after completing a 90-day training session, he smiled, leaned down to rub her still-short hair, and said, "This is a huge change. She didn't have much of this when I left, but she looks beautiful now."
Molly's smile made clear the value she placed in the compliment. Russ left for Iraq the next week, and she plans on having her locks back to shoulder length when he returns.
– Saul Wisnia
saul_wisnia@dfci.harvard.edu
