An integral part

Deepa Bharath

Pain has been Max Ortiz’s constant companion.

Like a whole other person who refuses to leave.

The 13-year-old wakes up to its pangs every morning. It goes with

him to school. It sits right next to him in class and nudges him

every time he tries to ignore its menacing presence.

It even runs alongside the teenager on the football field. But

that’s the one time Max, the water boy, refuses to acknowledge his

arthritis.

That’s when his dazzling smile and radiant spirit weaken it and

render it incapable of inflicting distress and discomfort.

Under the bright lights, with his team winning, his body lopsided

from carrying a heavy crate of Gatorade bottles, it’s as if he can’t

be bothered by his tormentor. He jumps up and down for every

touchdown his team -- the Costa Mesa High School Mustangs -- scores.

His happy eyes meet that of his brother Joe, who plays for the

team. They both wear the team’s No. 67 jersey.

Max was diagnosed with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis at age 3. The

disease, which affected six joints in his body, causes pain and

swelling. Twice, he has had to be admitted to the hospital because

the swelling affected his heart. He pops about 14 pills a day --

anti-inflammatory medication, steroids and medicines to prevent an

upset stomach from all the other pills he takes.

Max has accepted it. He has learned to live with it.

And he won’t let it stop him from doing what he loves to do the

most -- help out the team.

Every day after school, Max goes to football practice, where he

helps the team set up their equipment and supplies their water during

breaks.

It started with Max accompanying his big brother to practice two

years ago.

“I saw all these sweaty, thirsty guys,” Max says. “And I was just

watching. I just started filling up bottles and passing them around.

That’s how it all started. I knew I couldn’t play. I thought I might

as well be involved.”

It was the beginning of something special.

Quarterback Coach Bill Lux noticed Max. He walked up to him and

shook his hand. Right away, he was impressed.

“Max has been a world of encouragement for me,” the coach said.

“The interest he exhibits in spite of what he deals with physically

and what he deals with every day -- it’s amazing. It’s inspiring.”

Max has motivated him to do his job better, Lux says.

“He makes me happy to be out there everyday doing what I do,” Lux

said. “He’s a walking example of strength and courage.”

The coach is “like a brother” to him, Max said.

“We talk about stuff all the time,” he said.

Neither Lux nor the team can forget that day almost a year ago

when Max came to a big game straight from the hospital.

Then, last year, he was diagnosed with a tumor in his groin.

Doctors, at that point, didn’t know if it was cancerous. But Max had

to go through surgery and spent about 10 days in Children’s Hospital

of Orange County.

He was discharged the night of the big game.

“I had to go to the game,” Max said with the smile.

Lux had visited him at the hospital the previous day, and that

made him want to go even more.

“It gave me courage,” Max said.

So, dressed in his hospital gown and wrapped in several blankets,

Max sat on the sidelines cheering his team to victory.

Lux broke down. Team members were ecstatic.

“I still choke up when I think about that night,” Lux said.

“I think my brother showed a lot of heart that day when he showed

up straight from the hospital,” Joe Ortiz said. “I was about to cry

that day. It was great. What he’s doing is really cool.”

Team member Garrett Walters agreed.

“Max has definitely been an inspiration and a role model for me,”

he said. “He always shows up no matter what, no matter how bad he

feels. I love him so much.”

Max is one of a kind, Jasper Seewat said.

“He’s always there for us,” he said. “What he doing is great. Not

everybody would do it.”

Being part of the team has also elevated his stature among his

peers.

“Earlier, he faced quite a bit of ridicule from the kids,” his

father, Martin Ortiz, said. “There were some days Max had to use

crutches. And kids can be cruel.”

But now, Max is “cool.”

He high-fives every member of the football team and is perpetually

surrounded by green and white jerseys.

“The other day someone told me, ‘So you know a lot of people,

huh?’’’ Max said with a smile. “And I said, ‘Yeah, I know a lot of

people.’”

It has worked miracles for his self-esteem, Max’s mother, Tammy

Ortiz, said.

“He has so many friends and socializes a lot more,” she said.

The team has come through for him, time and time again, including

last Halloween during an unfortunate incident when Max got beaten by

a boy on the street. He came home hurt and limping.

“The team went after the boy,” Tammy Ortiz says. “They didn’t beat

him up or anything. But they just swarmed around him and let him know

they didn’t want Max hurt ever again.”

Recently, Max and his family watched the movie “Radio” together.

The film is the story of the decades-long relationship between a

mentally challenged man, nicknamed Radio, and the coach of a

prominent high school football team.

“I thought the movie was crazy,” Max said, with a laugh. “I loved

it -- it was, kind of, like my story.”

But Max doesn’t see himself staying with the team forever. He has

dreams and aspirations, such as going to college or becoming a

violinist.

“I’ll miss it a lot, though,” he said.

Max was also picked as an “ambassador” for the Arthritis

Foundation. In November, he’ll make his first public speech about his

experience with the disease.

It’s still not easy for Max to talk about it.

“It’s been really hard, having this since I was 3,” he said,

wiping away tears. “It’s something that I can’t change. It’s

something that won’t go away. So I have to learn to live with it.”

It’s even harder to be 13 and have to deal with it, Martin Ortiz

said.

“Max loves football,” his father said. “He loves sports. But he’s

also realistic. He’s wise beyond his years.”

The games are painful for Max, he said.

“But he pushes himself,” Martin Ortiz said. “Because when he’s on

that football field, there is a sense of normalcy about his life.

He’s just another teenager hanging out with the team.”

* DEEPA BHARATH covers public safety and courts. She may be

reached at (949) 574-4226 or by e-mail at [email protected].