By Jennifer Eisenbart
Editor
For Cyndi O’Brien, it is all too easy to get lost in time, and forget that her son, Joey, has been gone now for close to nine years.
Just 16 when he died on June 17, 2005, of an aggressive form of leukemia, Joey would be 26 this year.
“His friends are getting married,” said Cyndi.
But in remembering the time that has passed, Cyndi and her husband, Kevin, can also look back at the 20 recipients of the Joey O’Brien Courage Scholarship – 10 each at Burlington High School and Catholic Central High School.
“When I look at all the names of the recipients, I can’t believe that many young adults have received these scholarships,” she said.
So when the Joey O’Brien Memorial Golf Outing kicks off Saturday at Browns Lake Golf Course, it is for a good cause – and in the purpose of helping others.
Those interested in golfing pay $125 for 18 holes at Browns Lake, and also get lunch, dinner and drinks included in the cost. Dinner only is $25, and features pork chops made by the Rice family.
The money raised primarily goes to fund leukemia research at Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin – where Joey was treated briefly before dying in 2005.
But it also goes to fund scholarships for those who have faced adversity. For some – like Scotty Kivisto, now a student at Milwaukee School of Engineering – they have faced cancer themselves.
For others, it is a family member that has suffered. This year’s Catholic Central recipient is Brett Gardner, whose 15-year-old brother, Danny, was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) in November 2011. Now cancer-free, Danny is a sophomore at CCHS, while Brett graduated May 23.
“It’s pretty awesome,” Brett said of the scholarship and the work done by the organization. “Research is a big thing.”
Danny Gardner was the recipient of treatment that was developed through extensive research. When his first two rounds of chemotherapy did not place him in remission, his father, Ken, recalls doctors looking at a number of different treatment options – and the outlining the chances of what would work best for his younger son.
“You get shocked by this word, ‘leukemia,’” recalled Ken, who said the staff at Lutheran General in Park Ridge, Ill., and the staff at Children’s poured their hearts and souls into Danny’s treatment.
That staff also got personally involved. Danny and his family recall him returning from an afternoon outing to find a nurse had toilet-papered his room – in retaliation for Danny spraying Silly Strings at her earlier.
Danny spent five months in the hospital before a cord blood transplant put him in remission, where he has stayed.
To be able to help give back now with the O’Brien Foundation event, Brett said, is an honor.
“It’s whatever you can do,” he said.
And as the benefit enters its ninth year, both Kevin and Cyndi O’Brien feel things have fallen into place nicely.
“Each year, we implement ways to make our day easier,” said Cyndi. “We know what we have to do.”
This year, some of Joey’s friends will actually be participating in the tournament. Those participants will have an opportunity to bid on live and silent auction items, which include artwork made by the nephew of John Wayne, as well as a homemade wooden golf cart and various baskets from businesses.
Kevin said that golfers would not be turned away Saturday.
“We always have openings for golfers … if it’s going to help the kids,” he said.
For more information, contact the O’Briens at (262) 767-1100.
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