BY KAREN BOSSICK

Sun Valley’s ESPN broadcaster Chris Berman will interview six-time cancer survivor and former college football player Casey O’Brien at the Cancer in Focus forum today at the Sun Valley Inn.

The free talk, open to the public, will start at 4 p.m. It is part of the three-day Killebrew-Thompson memorial golf tournament, which raises funds to support cancer research at St. Luke’s.

O’Brien, a former Minnesota Golden Golpher football player, won the 2019 Disney Spirit Award as most inspiring college football player. He will discuss his battle with cancer during the talk.

O’Brien was first diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a bone cancer at age 13 and dealt with multiple bouts of the cancer in the years following. He underwent a full knee replacement, multiple lung surgeries and several chemotherapy treatments.

Still, he realized his dream to play college football for his home state Gophers in his team’s win over Rutgers in 2019. And he was cancer free for a few years before learning he had cancer again in 2022. Now a financial planner in Minnesota, he lives by the mantra “If I can, you can.”

The talk will also feature Obrien’s oncologist and cancer researcher Dr. Brenda Weigel of the Masonic Cancer Center at the University of Minnesota.

A 30-minute panel discussion and Q & A will follow.