Anyone who watches 9-year-old Mitchell Bartz ride his bicycle with his stepbrother, Marc Lucy, near their Brookfield home would probably not guess that six years ago, doctors gave Mitchell just a 30 percent chance of living.

Now a healthy, vibrant fourth-grader, Mitchell is on the honor roll and represented Addison Elementary School in The Herald spelling bee on Saturday.

In 1996, at age 3 1/2, Mitchell was diagnosed with neuroblastoma, a cancer that affects the nervous system.

Neuroblastoma is one of the most common childhood cancers, according to information from a neuroblastoma Web site. Children with neuroblastoma have cancer cells in certain nerve cells within the body. The disease usually begins in the abdominal area either in the adrenal gland or around the spinal cord in the neck, chest or pelvis.

"He had been sick at home for about seven weeks," said Mitchell's mother, Susan Lucy. "He was running fevers and had a lot of pain in his legs. We couldn't figure out what it was."

Then Mitchell quit walking. He was taken to the doctor, and the next day a tumor was found on his adrenal gland.

"He was in the fourth stage. It had spread to his bone marrow," Mrs. Lucy said. At the time, Mitchell was given a 30 percent chance of survival.

"Now just to look at him, you can't even tell," Mrs. Lucy said.

After his diagnosis, Mitchell's bone marrow was harvested to free it of cancer cells. It only took three months to get Mitchell's cancer into remission, Mrs. Lucy said.

In the meantime, Mitchell underwent four days of chemotherapy every three weeks at Tod Children's Hospital in Youngstown. After the first round, Mrs. Lucy said, Mitchell's tumor shrank and the lesions on his legs disappeared.

"He responded really well to the chemo," Mrs. Lucy said.

In July 1996, Mitchell had surgery to remove the tumor on his adrenal gland.

Then, on Sept. 6, 1996, at Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital in Cleveland, Mitchell's harvested bone marrow was transplanted back into him.

"That's the day we celebrate every year," Mrs. Lucy said.

Since his bone-marrow transplant, Mitchell has had no complications at all, his mother said.

He has check-ups once a year in Cleveland and doctors have to keep an eye on his kidneys because of radiation therapy he received.

Mitchell, who turns 10 in May, said his favorite subject in school is science.

He enjoys playing with his PlayStation with Marc, who is also 9, and also likes basketball, riding his dirt bike and watching "The Crocodile Hunter" and James Bond movies.

Mitchell also lives with his stepfather, Rick Lucy, and his 14-year-old stepbrother, Matt.

You can e-mail Staff Writer Erin Remai at eremai@sharon-herald.com.