'Magic moments' with NM United: Brothers find joy as honorary teammates

They stood side by side, a ball tucked under one set of arms, and peered through the glass doors, eager for the opportunity beyond them. The two brothers were done being stuck inside and the stone patio on the third floor at Sandia Resort & Casino provided the perfect spot to let off some pent-up energy. A large rectangular space dotted with sets of metal furniture that curved around the corner to form a capital “L,” it mostly set up views of green merging into tan and brown. The fairways of the nearby golf course leading to the surrounding mountains — if one chose to ignore the giant parking lot on the other side of that “L.” All on a cool enough early August evening that made being outside warranted. Exactly none of that mattered to Santiago and Sebastián Casaus Natale. Their heads were filled with things far more pressing. There was a game or two to instigate, rules to lay out and competitions in need of determining. Most importantly, it was figuring out the best way to have fun. Siblings being siblings. Kids being kids. So, off they went. Over the threshold. Around the corner. Out of sight (chaperone in tow). What those plans didn’t include were the conversation their parents — Naomi Natale and Michael Casaus — were having with a complete stranger. One that was not only deeply personal, but charged with raw emotions. One Santiago and Sebastián didn’t need to hear again. Not on this specific Tuesday. Both had earned a break, even if temporary. Deserved, however, is a better word. It didn’t take long to understand why. They had already lived through more than most and seen things that will be hard to forget. From the cancer 7-year-old Sebastián has been fighting since he was 2. The cancer 8-year-old Santiago has seen cause his brother and best friend to endure rounds of surgeries and radiation and chemotherapy. As much of a battle of not only physical survival, but “emotional survival,” Naomi called it. Through the pain and calm, the worry and gratefulness, the fear and hope. It’s also one of the reasons that brought the family here — to this third floor. Sebastián and Santiago were being adopted as honorary teammates of New Mexico United. A partnership through the Friends of Jaclyn Foundation that pairs sports teams — from the high school, college and professional ranks — with children fighting pediatric cancer and their siblings. Not for a single day or a week or a month, but for their entire lives. There are plans for a signing ceremony, the attending of training sessions and matches, and custom kits with each of their names and numbers of choice. Sebastián, No. 9. Santiago, No. 10. An ideal fit. But Tuesday was the start. A way for the brothers to just be kids. Hang out. Collect some cool gear. Kick around a ball. Those other things, those other worries, at least for the time being, could be adult responsibilities. “One of the hardest things is that they feel like their lives revolve around this,” Naomi said. “Sebas’ life has completely revolved around his cancer and then that means Santi’s life revolves around Sebas’ cancer, which means it has nothing to do with him. And it’s not just the cancer, most of the conversations Michael and I have outside of the kids are about the research and fundraising that we’re doing. They see all of that. “We knew something like this would mean so much to them. But there was a concern that when we first brought it up, were they gonna think this is just because it’s a cancer thing? You want your kids to have these magic moments. These moments that feel unburdened.” ‘Your kids are your life’ That was always the goal. Or, at least, the hope. It still is. Friends of Jaclyn has partnered more than 1,300 children with various teams across the country. Penn State. Alabama. Ohio State. UCLA. UConn. Washington. Florida. Duke. New Mexico. All have had a sports program take part. Plenty of schools have had more. New Mexico United is one of the latest to be added to a list that runs pages, each divided into four columns inscribed with tiny text. Northwestern — and its women’s lacrosse team — was the first. So was Jaclyn Murphy. But it was on a soccer field that set everything into motion. For better and for worse. Murphy was 9 then, “the dominating girl” known for running by others in Hopewell Junction, about 90 minutes north of New York City. Only in one game in March 2004, she didn’t. She was the one getting passed by, her stride becoming irregular, her feet dragging. Her parents, Denis and Lynda Murphy, rushed her to a hospital. She stayed for a week, undergoing tests that led to a variety of diagnoses. An eating disorder. Guillain-Barré syndrome, an autoimmune disorder in which the immune system attacks different nerves. None were right. A CT scan finally found the problem. A malignant tumor the size of a golf ball was found on the fourth ventricle of Jaclyn’s brain. “It was devastating,” Denis said after looking away at the mountains with a long pause. “Your kids are your life. To see them suffer is unimaginable and you can’t do anything.” The usual followed. A six-hour surgery to remove the tumor. Six weeks of radiation treatment. Five-and-a-half cycles of chemotherapy. The side effects came with the final two. The vomiting. The hair, once thick, fell out in chunks. The weight loss. The lining of her small intestine became damaged and eroded. Jaclyn’s weight dropped from 82 pounds to 50. It stunted her growth. She lost some of her hearing in her right ear. She also had to relearn how to walk. It was brutal, all of it. But she was alive. “Being 9 actually helped,” said Jaclyn, who will be celebrating her 32nd birthday in September. “I was always a positive kid and I took it as my brain tumor had cancer, I didn’t.” Northwestern helped make things a little easier or provided enough of a distraction. Set up through the contact of a contact, what was initially a care package — filled with Northwestern gear, player autographs and other goodies and well wishes — turned into meeting the team, which turned into attending games. When the Wildcats won their first national championship in 2005, Jaclyn was pulled onto the field to celebrate. Jaclyn became their little sister. They became her big sisters. “When I had really bad days or was going through treatment, they’d call or text me and I was in my own little happy place, my own little bubble,” Jaclyn said. “I was oblivious to everything that was happening around me.” Others weren’t. They noticed. Soon, it led to a different question. How can more experience this? What started off as helping other children with brain tumors soon expanded to those suffering from other pediatric cancers. There was one catch: siblings needed to be included, too. It’s a lesson Denis learned in part from his younger daughter, Taryn. “They’re the most overlooked kids in the cancer community,” Denis said. Finding the right teams — certainly those close enough for the kids to travel to — was another matter as Friends of Jaclyn grew. Sometimes it was through knowing a player or coach or administrator directly. Other times, it was simply by word of mouth. But everything is built on relationships — past, present and future. That’s how United became involved. Michael, Sebastián and Santiago’s father had gotten to know Ron Patel, the soccer club’s president, when the team was still in its infancy. The idea of it still being built out. The two were part of the same office space. It was Michael who reached out to Patel on behalf of Friends of Jaclyn. “We’ve been a United family and fans since Day 1 and even before Day 1,” Michael said. “We have pictures of both the boys in United onesies. I was showing pictures of them earlier and we were getting a kick out of it. They’ve gone through these different stages of life in all these different United shirts.” For United, it was, as Patel put it, “an absolute no-brainer.” “They didn’t even have to ask,” Patel said. “Things like this are why we started this club. The answer was always going to be, ‘Yes. What do you need us to do?’” ‘Each other’s ride or die’ Their voices started strong and broke throughout. The saying that time makes things easier doesn’t always apply. Some memories will always be painful. It was August 2021 when the lump first appeared on the palm of Sebastián’s left hand. It was recommended to Naomi and Michael to have the mass removed and tested. Their youngest son went home with 21 stitches and a cast. The family was told to wait for the results. If only it were that simple. One week went by. No word. A second week passed. So did a third. A fourth followed. “We knew then it couldn't be good,” Michael said. “If it was nothing, they would know pretty quickly. They don’t wait to give you good news.” They were right. They would have preferred to have been wrong. The result was stage IV myoepithelial carcinoma, a type of cancer that usually occurs in part of the salivary gland in the mouth, but can develop in places like the kidney or in soft tissue such as the hand. It’s aggressive. It’s also rare. A quick internet search will show uncommon or how difficult it is to find information on. No major medical organization — the Mayo Clinic, the National Institutes of Health, the World Health Organization or the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — has published data on the population ratio of those diagnosed with that cancer, let alone effective treatments or survival rate. At best, there are individual studies. The average age of those who are diagnosed? Fifty-five, according to the NIH. “It’s a struggle every day,” Naomi said. “In other situations or diagnoses, you might have a road map to go on. ‘This is what you can lean on and count on.’ Because there is none, you feel like you have to create it. It’s certainly not something I would wish on anybody.” Sebastián’s treatment started earnestly that October after scans revealed at least 11 nodules in his lungs. But after two rounds of chemotherapy, the family decided to transfer his care to the Children’s Hospital at Stanford. There was an oncologist who had treated myoepithelial carcinoma before. Naomi and Michael either took a leave of absence or quit their job, packed up their car and headed for Palo Alto, California. By May 2022, Sebastián had already gone through 10 rounds of grueling and painful chemotherapy. He developed osteoporosis, making him more susceptible to broken bones. But he was cancer-free. He rang the bell. He would have to come back every three months for post-treatment scans. It was never that easy. Sebastián’s first scan showed his cancer had returned. He underwent lung surgery to remove a malignant nodule. Three months later, five more nodules popped up. It required a three-hour double-lung surgery. Four of the tumors were removed. Four others replaced those over the following months. The latest, however, were too small to surgically remove. At Sebastián’s last scan at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, the place he has been treated since June 2024, the four have remained stable and no new ones have appeared. His parents and brother were there to hear the news. It was considered a win. The scans will continue. Sebastián was put under anesthesia for that recent imaging and woke up frightened. Santiago rushed over to stroke his brother’s hair to tell him everything was going to be all right. It was incredibly endearing and incredibly heartbreaking at the same time. “Their love for each other is extraordinary,” Naomi said. “You look at that relationship and they are each other’s ride or die. It requires a lot from both of them and that’s one of the hardest things. They both carry those burdens heavily and differently. They’re also still very joyful and vibrant.” Even through all the hardships he’s suffered through, Sebastián has shown quite a sense of humor. He likes to be silly. He loves food, too. He’s also shown himself to be wise for someone just 7 years old. He makes you think. Santiago is the more serious of the two. A constant seeker of the truth and wanting to know the why behind everything from songs to movies to people. He’ll also show a soft and playful side. But that fear of another cancer resurgence is never far away. Individual and family therapy are helpful to not only process and talk about any emotions, but sometimes simply as a way to manage the day-to-day expectations. And those might be the most difficult. Right now, there’s only so much that can be done. Naomi and Michael have written op-eds, imploring politicians to make communication between patients and their doctors across states easier and for greater funding for pediatric cancer research. In February, the family spoke at the state Capitol. They’ve delved into any study they could find themselves and co-founded cureMEC, a nonprofit to help facilitate the funding and advance research on myoepithelial carcinoma. A way to help scientists and doctors collaborate back and forth. The two compared it to the cooperation of a sports team. The saying is they’re trying to win the cup. “When they write the story of this journey, it’s gonna end up being a good ending, a happy ending,” Michael said, his voice breaking again. “The research is gonna catch up and for us, research is hope.” Until next time Catching up with the brothers was a different story. Luckily, they made it somewhat easy. Certainly convenient enough. Around the corner, the pair was each sitting in a chair, a square table between them. It appeared now was a good time for a bit of a rest and a perfect opportunity to confidently negotiate part of their honorary United contracts. At the top of the list? Their own lockers. Something will surely be arranged. All of it is an exciting prospect. Soccer, of course, is one of their favorite sports. It’s also one they’ll get to do together. As siblings. As brothers. As those ride-or-die best friends. “I like Santi because he’s nice,” Sebastián said. “When I make a mistake, he usually helps me fix them.” “I like that he helps me with things,” Santiago said of Sebastián. “And that he plays with me a lot, sometimes soccer, sometimes board games, sometimes made-up games.” The hope is that whatever comes out of their Friends of Jaclyn experience, it will be a core memory. And hope can be a powerful thing. Naomi knows that. Michael, too. No doubt Sebastián and Santiago do as well. Tuesday sure seemed to be a strong start. And for now, that was enough. It was now time for the family to get home. They crossed the patio, stepped over the threshold and headed for the elevator to take them back to the lobby. The brothers, however, needed a couple of extra minutes once back on the ground floor. Off they went. In step. Side by side. Eager to explore a little more before being called back. It really was time to leave. Naomi and Michael said goodbye with a thank you, a hug and a handshake. Santiago and Sebastián offered up some high-fives and waved. They left through another set of doors, smiles etched on each of their faces. One. Two. Three. Four. They were out of sight. It had been quite the day. It had also been a rather good one. The hope is there will be plenty more. David Glovach covers New Mexico United and other sports for the Journal. Reach him at dglovach@abqjournal.com or via X @DavidGlovach. 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