MADEIRA, Ohio — As the saying goes, you can’t control the family you’re born into. You can, however, control your own trajectory to change your situation. That’s the route Aidan Fertig was on after graduating from Madeira High School.
"I wasn’t dealt the greatest of hands," said Aidan Fertig.
Fertig said his mother left when he was 6 or 7 years old, choosing the world of drugs and the things associated with it. Living with his father was an adventure of its own.
"He hoarded things, didn't obey the law," said Fertig, who said the home he lived in with his father had a generator powering it. "Even at times that was ran inside in the basement."
He said he lost a cat as a result of it.
With the situation being what it was, Fertig said he had to grow up faster than other high school kids.
"Junior year I really had to focus on working, I had to provide a lot for myself due to circumstances with my family," he said.
With all of that, he focused on wrestling, theater and started gaining an interest in photography. He also buckled down on his schoolwork, all in an effort to better his life.
Fertig graduated with honors and was a member of the National Honor Society. He enrolled at Mount St. Joseph University on scholarships and grants, got his own apartment and continued to work at Target. He had his new life in balance, or so he thought.
A visit to urgent care and subsequently Jewish Hospital after experiencing what he thought was a bad kidney infection led to news that would hit harder than a pile of bricks.
"They come in with the cat scan and they flat out tell me that I have cancer. And at first, I’m kind of laughing to myself, I’m like, 'No way — like you’re joking right?' And they’re like, 'No you have cancer,'" he said. “They flipped around the screen and my right kidney was just ginormous, engulfed in a tumor."
It was Ewing sarcoma and it wasn’t just the tumor taking over his kidney.
"We had a bone scan done and it showed my whole skeleton for the most part lit up, meaning that the cancer is very predominant in my pelvis, my spine, skull, rib cage and legs and arms," Fertig said.
The cancer was taking over his body.
Now instead of classwork and days on the floor at Target, his life is full of doctor’s appointments and chemotherapy treatment. It will be his way of life for the next 18 to 24 months.
Through it all he remains positive and plans on fighting the beast within him.
"I'm gonna get through it like I have every other thing in my life that has been thrown at me,” he said. “It's gonna be very tough, but I'm gonna keep my head up and keep making the jokes that I can to keep my friends smiling even as grim as you know, is in my situation.”
Aidan’s Army was created as an online support group on Facebook. There’s also a GoFundMe page set up to support Fertig's expenses throughout the journey.
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