The power of will: Chapter 3

When Will Lacey was 6 months old, he was diagnosed with a deadly form of cancer called neuroblastoma. These photos, taken by the Laceys and Boston Globe photographers, document Will’s long fight against the disease, the people who played a significant role in that battle, as well as the scenes of everyday life as the Laceys chased their indefensible hope that Will could be cured.

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Will with a fund-raiser jar in 2011.Lacey family

For the Laceys, simple school projects like this would often take on a melancholy tone.Lacey family/Lacey Family

Will getting outpatient chemotherapy in 2009 at Dr. Sholler’s clinic at the University of Vermont Children’s Hospital.Lacey family/Pat Lacey

Will with sister Evelyn (middle) and baby sister Catherine in 2010.Lacey family

Will hugging Pat at the Cure Me I’m Irish fund-raiser in March 2010.Lacey family

Will testing out the long jump at Braintree High School, his dad’s alma mater, in 2009.Lacey family/Pat Lacey

Will preparing for a nuclear medicine scan, one of the countless procedures he’s undergone through the years.Lacey family/Pat Lacey

Dr. Giselle Sholler working with frozen tissue and cell samples as part of her research on neuroblastoma and DFMO.Dina Rudick/Globe Staff

Will’s sixth birthday party in 2010, just before he started first grade.Lacey family

Will making his weekly round-trip from Braintree to Burlington, Vt., for treatment. His classmates thought he was “on vacation.”Lacey family

Will, age 7, tops the Christmas tree in 2011.Lacey family/Lacey Family

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