On July 2, while their most prominent patient was busy receiving his final dose of chemotherapy in a nearby infusion suite, the nursing staff at the Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania staged a covert operation to celebrate the occasion. T-shirts were delivered and donned, each bearing a message of support like OSKAR STRONG, or FIGHT WITH OSKAR. Group texts were sent, counting down the treatment time so everyone could gather early for the big surprise. “He didn’t know any of that was coming,” nurse practitioner Laetitia Simeral says. “It was a very last-minute thing.”
Even with his face hidden behind a medical mask, the stadium-wide grin was unmistakable when Oskar Lindblom soon strode down the hallway from his private patient room—“Last time!