Inspirational Brother Rice Student Loses Battle With Cancer

Caption: Brother Rice High School remembers the life of Cameron M. Fahey, 17, a popular senior who died Aug. 21 after a nearly 10-month battle with Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma.

The Brother Rice High School community is mourning the loss of senior Cameron Miller Fahey, 17, who succumbed to cancer on Aug. 21. Through his courage and spirit, Cameron maintained his focus on life and his studies during his fight with an aggressive form of Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma.

Brother Rice High School will be closed Wednesday, August 27, so that students, faculty and staff may attend Cameron’s funeral.

Cameron was diagnosed with lymphoma on Oct. 31, 2013, after he began experiencing intense back pain. According to his biography on BeTheMatch, a website maintained by the National Bone Marrow Registry, Cameron was stoic during his treatments and health setbacks.

“Since that night, Cameron has never once complained (other than the taste of some medication). Any day that Cameron was not in the hospital, he was at school ready to work. He did his homework every night. He spent his weekends with his friends as they played video games, watched movies and wrestling or just sat around his basement doing nothing. His strength and perseverance has been an inspiration to his family, his friends and his school community.”

This past April, after months of chemotherapy, Cameron was looking forward to spending the summer with his best friends. But in May, the pain returned to his back, his knees and teeth, sending him back to the hospital. Cameron’s cancer had modified into Burkitt’s Lymphoma and had spread to his bone marrow.

Over the summer, Brother Rice held two bone marrow registry drives for Cameron in the hopes that a match could be found for a life-saving bone marrow transplant. Since Cameron had no siblings, the chances that one of his cousins would be a match were slim.

After more treatment, Cameron’s cancer appeared to be in remission. A bone marrow donor was found and a transplant was scheduled for earlier this month. However, by late July, the pain returned and so did the cancer, Southtown-Star reported.

Last week, Cameron died in Lurie Children’s Hospital, surrounded by his parents and loved ones, Brother Rice said in statement on the school’s website.

Cameron lived in Beverly with his parents, the only child of Hallie and Brian Fahey. He attended grammar school at St. Barnabas. His father told Southtown-Star that his son was a “diligent student,” who had scored a 34 on the ACT exam. Cameron had hoped to attend Brown University after his high school graduation.

In addition to his parents, Cameron was an “inspiration” to his grandparents, Charles P. and Joan K. Miller of McHenry, IL, and Kathleen and the late Edward J. Fahey, Sr.; and his aunts and uncles, Danielle (Eugene) Casciaro, Joseph (Wendy) Miller, the late Mary Ellen Hope, Kitty (Jim) Creed, the late Tricia Fahey, Edward J. (Mary Kay) Fahey Jr., Jack (Peggy) Fahey, Ali (Ed) Holzman, Eileen (Clarence) Puchalski, and Sheilagh (Danny) Daly. He was the treasured “Little Brother” to Patrick Creed, and cherished cousin of 17. Cameron will also be missed by numerous loyal friends in the St. Barnabas and Brother Rice Communities.

Visitation for Cameron Fahey will be held from 2 to 9 p.m. Tuesday at St. Barnabas Church, 10134 S. Longwood Drive, in Chicago. Mass of Christian Burial will take place at 10 a.m. Wednesday, at St. Barnabas.

In lieu of flowers, his family asks that donations be made to the Cameron Miller Fahey Memorial Scholarship Fund, c/o P.O. Box 437742, Chicago, IL 60643.

For more information about funeral arrangements, visit Heeney-Laughlin Funeral Directors of Chicago Ridge.