A little boy from Ohio got a standing ovation from his batch mates after he beat cancer’s bum!
John Oliver Zippay, who is also known as JO, returned to his school and was greeted with a standing ovation after his classmates discovered that he had finished the final round of his chemotherapy.
JO was battling leukemia for 3 years and received his last round of chemotherapy on December 27, 2019.
This week, 6-year-old JO returned to the St. Helen Catholic School in Newbury, Ohio.
He was greeted with applause as he walked down the corridor on his first day.
Patrick Gannon, the principal of the school, said, “Him having to miss some of the time was tough, but the class was just so happy to see him come back.”
JO was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in 2016 when he was just 3 years old.
After he was diagnosed with cancer, he spent 18 days in the hospital and endured constant chemotherapy sessions.
John Zippay, the father of JO, said, “He had a meta-port in his chest so he wasn’t able to do any physical activity for three years. So it was hard for him, had to sit back for gym class and things.”
Megan Zippay, the mother of JO, talked about the future of her son.
Megan said, “You want that for your child, to grow up and get dirty and play outside and have fun and we kept him in a bubble so we’re excited. Looking forward to the future and having our little boy back.”
In the Halloween of 2016, the Zippays realized that JO had a problem after he fell and hit his head on a bed’s headboard.
The boy’s face became discolored and became lethargic, prompting his parents to take him to the doctors.
After a number of blood tests, the doctor called in the middle of the night and urged them to take John Oliver, the little boy, to the emergency room.
The doctor called them and broke the news to them.
John said, “It was a real shock because that’s when the word cancer started getting thrown around.”
Little JO is now back in school.