Elgin boy gets 'welcome home' parade after 18 rounds of chemo
Ten-year-old A.J. Ramirez had a really rough eight months, having undergone a left knee replacement and 18 rounds of chemotherapy to treat bone cancer.
The normally shy boy had the biggest, brightest smile Sunday, when he stood with his family on their front lawn in Elgin as a parade of cars, motorcycles, tow trucks, and police and fire vehicles drove by honking and cheering for him.
His mother, Raquel Ramirez, said they normally would have celebrated A.J's last round of chemo with relatives, but that was impossible in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. So she had the idea of asking people to drive by for a small parade, which she never imagined would get that big, she said.
"A.J. loved it. He was so happy yesterday to have this welcome home party," Ramirez said Monday. "We were standing out there for about a half-hour. That's how long it was."
Much of the credit goes to Ramirez's cousin, Teresa Alvarado of Elgin, who spread the word on Facebook and Instagram and brainstormed with A.J.'s great-uncle, Gil Feliciano, also of Elgin, to make the event memorable.
"This little kid needs our support because he's been through a lot," Alvarado said.
A fifth-grader at Highland Elementary School, A.J. was diagnosed in August with a tumor in his leg and had surgery in November between rounds of chemo at Advocate Children's Hospital in Park Ridge.
He has kept up with his studies via e-learning and the help of a home-school teacher, and his teachers figured he wouldn't need to repeat his grade if he went back to school this month and attended summer school, his mother said. However, things are up in the air now since it's unclear when normal classes will resume, she said.
Despite being shy - so much so that he didn't utter a word when a reporter tried to ask him questions on the phone - A.J. loves car racing, roller coasters and the video game Roblox, and never turned down a chance to swim, jump on the trampoline or wrestle with his cousins, his mother said.
"He was an energetic kid, then this happened," said his mother, who had to quit her job as a patient care tech at Advocate Sherman Hospital to care for him. A.J.'s father, Adrian, is a truck driver. The boy has two sisters, Alyna, 7 and Adelyn, 15. "I don't think I have any more tears left. It' been very, very rough. But you know what, he's been a trooper and he has done his best to get through it."
A.J. needs to continue physical therapy but that's been canceled due to COVID-19, so his mother does what she can at home. He'll also need weekly doctor visits for the next three months and surgery every year until he's done growing.
Meanwhile, the family is elated to have him back home. "It's an exciting time ..." Raquel Ramirez said. "God was faithful and answered our prayers."
As for the parade, that will be an event A.J. and his family - and neighbors on his block - will never forget, they said. There were colorful signs, lots of balloons and appearances from Pete's Towing in East Dundee, and the Elgin fire and police departments.
"We made like 50 flyers to say 'thank you' and I ran out. I couldn't tell you how many more people I missed," Alvarado said. "It was really nice to see the community come together for him."