GEAUGA COUNTY, Ohio — John Oliver Zippay is a kid who loves his army figurines.
He's like a typical 6-year-old in so many ways. But he's had to overcome more than many adults in his young life, after a cancer diagnosis at age three stopped his entire family in their tracks.
The world learned of his story thanks to this video:
It went viral last month, when J.O., as he's known at St. Helen's Catholic School in Newbury, Ohio, returned to his classroom – and a normal childhood – after three years of treatment.
But family and friends in Geauga County know firsthand of his courageous fight, which all began with a phone call in the middle of the night in the fall of 2016. His parents, Megan and John Zippay, had taken J.O. to his pediatrician after noticing some worrying symptoms. But still, they weren't overly concerned.
"As parents, we justified everything. He had just started preschool and so we're like, that's why he's tired – he's not getting his naps... and he's got little bruises on his legs, but it was summertime and he's a boy and fine," Megan Zippay told 3News' Jay Crawford. "We took him in on Halloween, we ran some blood work and we got a call at 4:00 in the morning that his numbers just weren't good and we needed to get to the hospital right away."
Soon, they had an official diagnosis – acute lymphoblastic leukemia. It's a type of cancer of the blood and bone marrow that affects white blood cells.
It is the most common childhood cancer, and one that has a 95% cure rate. But the years-long treatment is grueling.
J.O. received his first course of treatment at University Hospitals Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital before spending much of the rest of his three years of treatment under the care of the Cleveland Clinic's Dr. Ilia Buhtoiarov, who explained what a typical week was like for J.O.
"The treatment consists of several cycles, and cycles do not look alike. Different cycles have different medications combined on a very special schedule that implies coming to the clinic at least twice a week... to receive chemotherapy and on one of those days probably to receive transfusion of red blood cells or platelets to help the body fight the fight the cancer," Buhtoiarov said.
John Oliver also received painful steroid treatments that often kept him home from school.
"They make my legs hurt really bad so I can’t really move… so I have to stay home the whole school week and then I get a lot of homework," he said.
But through it all, his teachers said he always remained positive. His current first grade teacher, Kimberly Gannon, said, "He is just so full of joy... I don't think any other child could have handled his situation better than him."
His kindergarten teacher, Theresa Charmley, told us she was inspired by J.O., saying, "He was always determined to do everything on his own, regardless of what kind of day he was having. So it inspired me to say, you know, pick up those bootstraps and stop complaining... if John Oliver can sit and do it, so can you."
On Dec. 27, 2019, J.O. finally received his last IV chemo treatment. In January, the St. Helen's community decided to welcome him back in a very special way – with a slideshow presentation, and lining the halls for a surprise standing ovation.
St. Helen's Principal Patrick Gannon told 3News that the moment was all about coming together as a community.
"You know, this is a big thing for him and... just being able to see everybody come together... that was what made it so worthwhile," Gannon said.
Family friend Shannon Formanski was instrumental in helping to organize the surprise.
"I think for his family it was just a really important thing to see that the school supported him... our community, this is such a great school," she said.
Video of that standing ovation – and J.O.'s smile – went global.
"It went super viral... spread to other countries. It made Germany's newspaper and Taiwan and Paris, and it's unbelievable that it went so far," Megan Zippay said.
Here at home, his friends are just happy John Oliver is back in the classroom. Though he's still dealing with some side effects, like a facial rash, his treatments are officially over. His parents and sister are now looking forward to a new chapter in their family's story.
"This entire experience has opened our eyes completely to the amazing amount of goodness in people," John Zippay said. "I hope it helps raise awareness. I hope it helps motivate other families that are still going through this. Really, the story of J.O. is about how you get through that struggle."