Brady Antaya and Gavin Morello have been best friends since third grade at the Timony Grammar School. Together, they navigated life’s ups and downs as tweens and teens. But nothing could have prepared them for their senior year at Methuen High.
In January, Gavin was diagnosed with cancer after a sarcoma was discovered in his head. Surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, side effects, time out of school and away from friends all followed.
Ever the supportive friend, Brady stood by his pal every step of the way. Gavin “had a rough couple months” and Brady says he wanted to do more.
So the then-MHS varsity tennis player committed to hopping on his bike and pedaling the 25-mile (Wellesley to Gillette Stadium) Pan-Mass Challenge to raise money for cancer research at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
Just before the Aug. 3 ride, Brady told the Morello family of his plan.
Gavin’s reaction?
“I was amazed and truly shocked that he was doing this,” Gavin said. “(The race) had never even crossed my mind and I’m so proud of him for doing it.”
Finally, race day arrived!
“There were a lot of hills. While I got through many of them easily, there were a couple tough ones,” says Brady, who’d never done a bike race. “But on those hills, I did something that I do to this day. I didn’t know if I’d make these – I thought, ‘What would Gavin do? He’d go to treatment at the Jimmy Fund or Dana-Farber. He didn’t want to, but he wants to get better and beat this. So I thought, ‘I’m gonna do things the way Gavin does – I’m gonna make it up this hill!’ ”
Brady, who is deaf and has Kabuki Syndrome, made sure he had a safe ride.
“During the race, I’d try to stay close to someone so I could hear someone yell out if a car was coming,” he explained. “We’d all have to pull off to the side of the road.”
As Brady closed in on the finish line, he saw the Morello family there – cheering him on.
“I actually stopped before crossing over,” Brady recalls. “I got off my bike and went over to everybody and gave Gavin a big hug. Then I got back on and rode over the finish line.”
Gavin reflects on that moment: “(The hug) felt amazing, even though he was all sweaty – it felt great congratulating and thanking him for everything he had done.”
Gavin adds he was touched that Brady would go to such lengths “not only for me, but for anyone and everyone going through what I and many others are going through.”
“I got a little emotional – a few months ago, I didn’t know if he’d still be here this summer,” says Brady, who is now a Curry College freshman. “Having him still there to support me, it put a lot in my head, a lot of feelings. I’m so grateful he’s still here – I don’t know what I’d do if he wasn’t there anymore.”
Gavin recently completed cancer treatments, is in remission and looks forward to attending UMaine, where he has deferred attendance, to major in New Media – a combination of film and TV editing.
Through his ride, Brady raised $2,144 for life-saving cancer research, treatment and patient care at Dana-Farber.
