Derek Hance O'Brien

Derek Hance O'Brien, 42 of Portland, ME, passed peacefully in his sleep of natural causes on August 25, 2025. His beloved cat, Kiwi, by his side.

Derek was born on December 11, 1982, in Rockport, Maine to parents Steven and Kathleen (McCormick) O'Brien. He was the younger twin, by two minutes, to Dustin Logan O'Brien. Cementing a lifelong bond they shared. He spent much of his childhood in the sandbox with Dustin, excavating with their tonka trucks all day long. Or following his maternal grandfather, "Papa" (John McCormick), around his engineering sites or helping him campaign for office in their matching suits. Derek could also be found giving his older sister, Nicole O'Brien Blake, and his younger brother, Shane O'Brien, a run for their money.

Derek played soccer and baseball growing up, but his real passion was basketball. He was so proud to be part of the 2002 Camden Hills Regional High School's state championship team, coached by Jeff Hart. After graduating from Camden Hills in 2002, he attended Catholic University in Washington, D.C. to study architecture.

On July 23, 2005, just before his senior year in college, he sustained a traumatic brain injury and spinal cord injury while diving into the waves on the Jersey Shore. This day would change the trajectory of Derek's life. He would spend the next year learning to live with quadriplegia and learning to do every single task, even speaking, over again and differently. During his year in the hospital, he battled countless infections, kidney failure, a stroke, coding on the operating table, ventilator malfunctions and more. To say Derek had a will to live would be the understatement of a lifetime.

Derek worked hard to regain his independence. In 2009, he went back to school at the University of Maine Orono to earn a degree in New Media, graduating in 2013. In 2015, he moved to his apartment in Portland, Maine where he lived and thrived for the next ten years. A frequent face at many local establishments, including his favorite, Zephyr Ice. While he started going for the shave ice, soon Zephyr's owners, Don and Julie, became his close friends.

A champion of disability rights, Derek constantly strove to make Portland, the state and the world a more accessible place. He served on various committees and boards, including Alpha One and for the City of Portland. He contacted his representatives, made social media content about life with a spinal cord injury and worked tirelessly to educate those around him. Derek was an open book and happy to share about what his life looked like and how he used various adaptive equipment. He could often be found balancing in his wheelchair on two wheels and explaining to strangers how his iBot worked.

Derek also served as a peer mentor at EmpowerSCI for newly injured individuals. At Empower, he reconnected with his former PT from his time in the rehabilitation hospital, Carrie, and made some of his closest friends: Jess, Liz, Matty and Gaby. EmpowerSCI was his happy place.

Derek's life was not easy. Every daily task took triple the amount of time and effort. He lived with pain, had another stroke, many infections, wounds, and hospital stays, but he never lost that same tenacious will to live. He found beauty in what so many of us miss. Often using his lifelong passion for photography to capture the world around him: food, flowers, people. Always showing his unique perspective from life in a seated position.

Derek never met a stranger. He collected and maintained friends everywhere he went. He never accepted the word "no." These characteristics are probably what propelled him through the last twenty years.

He truly was, Superman. Just like the cape that always flowed from the back of his chair.

Memories of Derek will live on with his parents, Steve and Kathy of Warren, ME; his sister, Nicole and her husband, Neal, of Rockport, ME; his twin brother Dustin and his wife, McKenzie, of Shrewsbury, MA; his brother Shane and his wife, Heather, of Hermon, ME; his nieces and nephew: Addie, Ella, Kingsley and Jack; many aunts and uncles; 20 cousins that were like siblings; his longtime caretaker, Margarita; his cat, Kiwi; and countless friends including Shannon, Jess and Bernie.

He was greeted in the afterlife by his maternal grandparents John and Dorothy McCormick; paternal grandparents Robert and Sharon O'Brien; and his baby sister Tara O'Brien.

There are too many people to name in this space, but Derek's family would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to all the amazing people who have supported him over the last 20 years. He was fiercely independent, but we know he would not have flourished the way he did without your unwavering support.

We would not properly honor Derek's legacy if we did not use this opportunity to ask those who loved him to advocate for more prompt and thorough Well-Checks on anyone in need, but especially vulnerable populations. Keep advocating for accessibility in all spaces, too.

We love you and are eternally proud of you, D-Rock.

Please join us for a celebration of Derek's incredible life on September 6, 2025, at 2:00pm at the Rockland Elks, 210 Rankin St., Rockland, ME 04841. Words of remembrance will be shared starting at 3:00pm. All are welcome to share their own stories and memories of Derek, as well.

In lieu of flowers, we ask you to consider donating in Derek's memory to EmpowerSCI and continue to help those with spinal cord injuries live life to the fullest, as Derek always did. EmpowerSCI, PO Box 582, Warren, RI 02885 https://www.empowersci.org

Arrangements are under the care and direction of Hall Funeral Home, Waldoboro. To extend a condolence or share a story with the O'Brien family, please visit Derek's Book of Memories at www.hallfuneralhomes.com