If Patrick Chance had his druthers, he would have spent most days fishing.
“He’d sit for hours and fish,” said Erin Chance, his mother. “He loved fishing, hunting, bird watching. ... He was an old soul.”
Patrick Roberts Chance of Atlanta died Monday, on his 9th birthday, at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta of neuroblastoma, a form of childhood cancer. A funeral service is scheduled for 2 p.m. Saturday at Glenn Memorial United Methodist Church. His body was cremated. H.M. Patterson & Son, Spring Hill Chapel is handling arrangements.
Patrick was an energetic boy who didn’t dwell on his diagnosis, said Kristin Connor, a family friend.
“He was concerned about the things little boys are concerned about,” said Ms. Connor, who is executive director of Atlanta-based Cure Childhood Cancer. “It was fishing, Legos, Spiderman and Star Wars that was on his mind.”
When Ms. Connor met the Chance family, Patrick was 3 1/2 and had just been diagnosed. The first three years of his life seemed normal, Mrs. Chance said. Yet after his third birthday, Patrick exhibited symptoms that troubled his mother.
“One morning he woke up and he couldn’t walk,” she said. “He was treated for a hip infection, but that didn’t help.”
Patrick was eventually diagnosed with neuroblastoma. Patrick’s parents were told without treatment their son had approximately two months to live. With treatment, he had a 40 percent chance of survival, his mother said.
“I think we turned that into five really great years,” Mrs. Chance said.
While some of Patrick’s treatments were painful, he rarely let the discomfort keep him down, his mother said.
“No matter how bad he felt, he’d try to rally,” she said. “When he didn’t feel up to doing anything, that’s when I knew it was really bad for him.”
Stephen Chance said he and his wife did everything they could to help Patrick, and the family, have a normal life. They took trips and did as much as they could when Patrick wasn’t in treatment.
“When he had a treatment or an evaluation or whatever, we regarded that as duty week,” Mr. Chance said. “And he knew once he took care of duty, he was going to have some fun.”
Patrick was his happiest when he was surrounded by his family, especially his two sisters, Madison and Anna, whom he adored, his mother said. And if the family took a trip to its cabin in Cashiers, N. C., he was in his element.
“It was his favorite place in the world,” his mother said. “He just loved nature and the outdoors.”
Ms. Connor said she was often amazed by Patrick’s resiliency.
“He would be in the midst of this hellish treatment and he was still smiling and up for adventure,” she said. “He taught people so much by the way he lived.”
Patrick’s determination inspired his parents to partner with Ms. Connor’s nonprofit organization and create a fund called Press On, which supports research for certain childhood cancers.
“He taught me that you don’t dwell in the hard times,” Mrs. Chance said. “If you’re going through a tough time or something bad happens to you, you acknowledge it, but don’t dwell on it. You press on.”
Patrick is also survived by his grandparents, Anne Chance of Atlanta, Ernie and Linda Reynolds of Sierra Vista, Ariz., and Kris and Don Gordon of Augusta.
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