North Las Vegas firefighters escort leukemia patient home

By Art Marroquin Las Vegas Review-Journal

7 years ago

Leukemia patient Johnathan Rubio, 16, talks to the news media with Capt. Cedric Williams of the North Las Vegas Fire Department after being released from Summerlin Hospital Medical Center on Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2018. Rubio, who is a member of the department’s Explorer Program, got a ride home on a fire engine. (K.M. Cannon/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @KMCannonPhoto

Leukemia patient Johnathan Rubio, 16, arrives home on a North Las Vegas Fire Department engine after being released from Summerlin Hospital Medical Center on Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2018. Rubio is a member of the department’s Explorer Program. (K.M. Cannon/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @KMCannonPhoto

Leukemia patient Johnathan Rubio, 16, shows his North Las Vegas Fire Department helmet after being released from Summerlin Hospital Medical Center on Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2018. Rubio, who is a member of the department’s Explorer Program, got a ride home on a fire engine. K.M. Cannon Las Vegas Review-Journal @KMCannonPhoto

Leukemia patient Johnathan Rubio, 16, talks to the news media after being released from Summerlin Hospital Medical Center on Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2018. Rubio, who is a member of the department’s Explorer Program, got a ride home on a fire engine. (K.M. Cannon/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @KMCannonPhoto

Leukemia patient Johnathan Rubio, 16, gets help with his helmet from North Las Vegas Fire Department Capt. Cedric Williams after being released from Summerlin Hospital Medical Center on Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2018. Rubio, who is a member of the department’s Explorer Program, got a ride home on a fire engine. (K.M. Cannon/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @KMCannonPhoto

Leukemia patient Johnathan Rubio, 16, prepares for a ride home on a North Las Vegas Fire Department engine after being released from Summerlin Hospital Medical Center on Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2018. Rubio is a member of the department’s Explorer Program. (K.M. Cannon/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @KMCannonPhoto

Leukemia patient Johnathan Rubio, 16, with North Las Vegas Fire Battalion Chief Jeff Hurley after getting a ride home on an engine on Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2018. Rubio, who is a member of the department’s Explorer Program, was released from Summerlin Hospital Medical Center after five weeks of intensive treatment. (K.M. Cannon/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @KMCannonPhoto

Leukemia patient Johnathan Rubio, 16, right, gets a hug from his brother, Nicholas, after getting a ride home on a North Las Vegas Fire engine on Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2018. Rubio, who is a member of the department’s Explorer Program, was released from Summerlin Hospital Medical Center after five weeks of intensive treatment. (K.M. Cannon/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @KMCannonPhoto

A surgical mask couldn’t hide Johnathan Rubio’s beaming smile as he slipped a firefighter helmet on his bald head and boarded a North Las Vegas fire engine.

The 16-year-old junior from Bonanza High School was treated to a hero’s ride home Tuesday afternoon after undergoing five weeks of intensive treatment for leukemia at Summerlin Hospital Medical Center.

“I’ve always wanted to aspire to be better and help other people,” said Rubio, who has participated over the past two years in the North Las Vegas Fire Explorer Program.

“I didn’t expect this,” Rubio said. “But it’s really nice.”

Rubio was diagnosed with leukemia on Nov. 29 and started treatment within three days because his doctors “were afraid of losing him,” said his mother, Lori Harrison.

The teenager said he was admitted to the hospital five weeks ago due to a loss of appetite caused by sores in his esophagus, leading to rapid weight loss. He underwent a bone marrow biopsy on Monday and hopes to have a transplant within the year.

“It’s been a very hard thing to go through,” Harrison said. “To find out your 16-year-old son is going in for a fever and then getting told that he has leukemia is hard. Everything happened so fast.”

North Las Vegas firefighters have offered their help to Rubio since his diagnosis, leading to the escorted ride home aboard an oversized rig, Capt. Cedric Williams said.

“He’s one of us. He’s one of our Explorers,” Williams said. “As one of our family members, we’re just here to support him and encourage him and make sure he’s not in this alone.”

Contact Art Marroquin at amarroquin@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0336. Follow @AMarroquin_LV on Twitter.