Former Gophers football player Casey O’Brien has assisted many kids in their cancer fights in recent years. Now the St. Paul native is asking for help.

O’Brien, who has been battling Osteosarcoma for 11 years, shared Monday he has had a recent relapse in his lung, liver and lower back.

“We have exhausted many traditional options for treatment,” O’Brien wrote in social media posts. “We are moving forward with cutting-edge procedures, but our insurance will not cover these options.”

O’Brien’s family has started a GoFundMe to channel fund raising support. “We have a great plan in place but we need your help,” he wrote.

The goal is $250,000, and as of early Tuesday morning, it had already raised more than $84,000.

O’Brien, 24, has had more than 40 surgeries and spend more than 400 nights in the hospital to fight off a disease that has crept up more than seven times since he was first diagnosed in 2013.

“I look forward to being a success story soon!” O’Brien wrote on GoFundMe.

O’Brien, who had a knee replaced while attending Cretin-Derham Hall High School, has said one of his proudest moments was playing Big Ten football as a Gophers placeholder on special teams during the 2019.

O’Brien, who has worked at RBC Wealth Management, started the Team One Four Fund in 2022 to raise $1 million to aid the M Health Fairview Masonic Children’s Hospital. He also has provided emotional support to others at the hospital and has been an inspiration to others outside it.

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