TOLEDO, Ohio — It has been seven months since six-year-old James O'Reilly III, a first-grade student at Beverly Elementary, learned he had leukemia. On Friday, his school surprised him with an orange out.
"In September, we go orange for leukemia awareness, so we asked our students to come in orange," said Beverly Elementary Principal Christine Coleman.
James' mother, Jessica O'Reilly, said the six-year-old has undergone chemotherapy and fought through many complications while continuing to go to class virtually through Google Classroom.
But on Friday, James saw his classmates in person for the first time since February.
"James' parents have been working off and on taking turns with who stays home with James," Coleman said. "He has been hospitalized several days, so one parent has been home with James' sisters and the other is in the hospital with James."
James' battle with leukemia has caused financial stress for the family, so school staff decided to organize a fundraiser to help alleviate the issue.
Beverly Elementary classes would compete to see who can raise the most money and gift cards through word of mouth. The winner's prize? A pizza party with Toledo Public Schools Superintendent Romules Durant.
"To date, we have raised over $1,200 in gift cards and over $4,000 in cash, so over $5,000 in donations for the family just to help ease the hardship of what's going on with loss of wages, loss of work time and just to ensure James is getting his treatment," Beverly Elementary assistant principal Hayden Lowe said.
James is still attending class virtually, but his parents say he is through the most intense part of treatment and they are hopeful he will improve.
The school is looking forward to having James back soon.
"Hopefully he will be with us as much as possible at the beginning of November," Coleman said.
Jessica O'Reilly said no parent ever expects their child to be diagnosed with cancer and it's incredibly hard, but they are hopeful that they can raise awareness that leads to a cure.