PARTNER FOR A DAY FIGHTING CANCER, BOY, 9, TREATS LIFE AS A MIRACLE.

Byline: Rachel Uranga Staff Writer

SAN FERNANDO - Watching 9-year-old Manny Fernandez bubble over with excitement, it's easy to forget the tough battle being fought by the fourth-grader.

Three years after being diagnosed with a rare brain tumor, Manny has difficulty hearing, walking and speaking. But all his pain seemed to wash away Tuesday as he jumped into a city of San Fernando police car and, with the siren wailing, took off on the ride of his life.

``It was fun,'' he said, smiling. ``They showed me everything in the cops' place.''

A tour of the police station and ride through the city's main drag in the patrol car gave the wide-eyed boy a short reprieve from medulloblastoma - a sometimes terminal condition that disrupts the equilibrium and muscle coordination.

On his best days, Manny has trouble hearing and must sit out for most of recess at San Fernando Elementary School because the stress is too much on his frail body. On his worst days, he has seizures and sleeps for hours on end.

``There are times we didn't think he was going to make it,'' said his mother, Elizabeth Fernandez, who snapped photos of Manny as he looked into the jail, talked with the police captain and peered out of the patrol car. ``This is a joy for us. These are the moments we can remember.''

Though his future is uncertain, there is hope. About 80 percent of children diagnosed with the brain cancer survive, though treatment can be grueling. Manny has already gone through radiation, chemotherapy and a stem- cell transplant.

About three of every 100,000 children are diagnosed with the cancer, according to a 1994 study by the National Cancer Institute. Those numbers have been steadily increasing since the 1970s, when the odds were one in 100,000.

Some children become wheelchair users, others develop learning disabilities but many return to normal lives, said Dr. Rima Jubran, Manny's physician at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles.

Manny's mother knows there are no guarantees. She saw Manny at his worst, 6 years old and just 35 pounds, too weak to walk. If Manny suffers a relapse before the end of this year, there are few treatment options left for him.

But Manny knows there is hope. He even named his pet Shar-Pei Miracle - simply because he is still alive.

In pictures taken of Manny at the hospital, his demeanor defies the ferocious cancer and the devastating treatments. He hams it up for the camera, giving a thumbs-up sign or flexing his muscles.

Outside the hospital, that attitude is still evident.

A cap embroidered ``Police'' covered his head of thin hair, just now growing back after chemotherapy, and his brown eyes lit up as Officer Adrian Flores flicked on the siren.

``It felt like a special day today, like a surprise,'' Manny said.

The ride is any boy's dream, but, as Chief Anthony Alba said, it was granted because little Manny lived through every child's and parent's worst nightmare.

He knows.

His own child - now 27 - was diagnosed with a cancerous growth on his liver at 11 months.

``Your whole world stops and your whole focus is on the life of your child and doing whatever they can to make their life better,'' he said.

The world did stop for Elizabeth Fernandez, her husband and their four other children. Trips to the supermarket are no longer quick. A simple cold can turn into pneumonia, and strangers - met in hospital rooms - suddenly become lifelong friends.

In her heart, Manny is all better. And in his, he is better, too.

``All I have been through, I could have died,'' he said. ``It is a miracle.''

Rachel Uranga, [phone]

rachel.uranga(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

3 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) Nine-year-old cancer survivor Manny Fernandez listens to San Fernando police Officer Adrian Flores on Tuesday.

(2) - Manny Fernandez

Andy Holzman/Staff Photographer

(3 -- color) Defiant even when undergoing treatment, like here in 2003 at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, Manny Fernandez has gone through radiation, chemotherapy and a transplant to treat his brain tumor.