About two years ago beloved former Golden Gopher football player Casey O’Brien and his parents opted for a GoFundMe page to assist with costs from his long battle with osteosarcoma, a rare bone disease.
At one point the online resource showed $394,328 in donations. It wasn’t an easy decision to ask for help, but it was the right one.
“For sure. No question,” said Casey’s father Dan O’Brien. “Experimental things that we’ve done are not covered by insurance and they’re expensive.”
The older O’Brien, the former Gopher football assistant coach/administrator and now athletics director at Saint John’s in Collegeville, expressed the family’s gratitude for donations in a phone interview with Sports Headliners.
“It was incredible. We’ve been able to do several things to keep him alive because of how generous people were to us.”
Now there is no need for a public appeal. “We’re good,” Dan said. “Insurance has been good.”
Casey, 27, has lived a remarkable and inspiring journey since he was diagnosed with his awful disease at 13 years old. He has consulted with countless medical people, endured more than 40 surgeries and beaten his rare cancer seven times only to see it return.
“There probably isn’t anybody that is walking around this earth that has had the same kind of battle that he’s had,” Dan said. “We (including mom Chris) know that. The doctors tell us there’s no script to follow with his situation.
“It’s an amazing story and he’s got an incredible will and fight. And he’s still on this earth for a reason, and we’re thankful for that every single day.”
Sports Headliners reported on Casey in April of last year. A new development in his saga was breathing issues. His lungs were and remain compromised by osteosarcoma.
Dan was asked to compare Casey’s overall health now with 14 months ago. “That’s a good question. I would say it’s probably a little bit better. …
“There’s one spot (osteosarcoma, right lung) that they’re tracking right now and we’ve actually got an appointment here in July that we go to Chicago and get a treatment done on that.
“But his biggest challenge still remains the breathing. His lung capacity is a challenge.
“He can work. He’s working full time for RBC as he was last year at this time. They’ve been fabulous to him.
“So, he’ll work at home in the morning and go to downtown Minneapolis in the afternoon. From that standpoint it’s good. He’ll exercise a little bit (there). They (RBC) have a nice fitness center that he’ll use.
“But he’s still very, very limited with the breathing and that’s our challenge right now is to try to figure out a way to improve his breathing.”
Casey, whose exercise routine includes using a treadmill, is a senior investment associate at RBC and enjoys his work. The position provides a “normalcy” to his life, Dan said. And on the personal side another positive is the home Casey purchased next door to his parents in Mendota Heights. The location gives him his own space but he’s also close enough to get help from his parents if need be.
Caleb Miley, a friend dating back to high school at Cretin-Derham Hall, is Casey’s roommate. His friends also include former roommates from the University of Minnesota. Hanging out with them is frequent and adds to the bright moments in Casey’s life that include spending time at the family cabin near Spicer.
Casey, a Carlson School of Management grad, was part of the U football program for four seasons as a placeholder. He played in two games during his career, including 2019 against Rutgers where he held the football three times on point-after touchdown kicks. Listed at 6-1, 185-pounds, he walked on at the U program and earned two letters before retiring from football at Minnesota after the 2020 season.
Casey counts former Gophers head coach Jerry Kill and current coach P.J. Fleck among his many friends and admirers. “Both of them are really important to Casey,” Dan said.
Kill, himself a cancer survivor, texted last year that “Casey is no doubt the toughest person I have ever met, period!”
Fleck offered this praise via email in 2025: “His story is one that has impacted a community and a sport. He has inspired countless lives and changed the way people look at cancer survivors.”