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Jorian’s a huge Ellen fan and watched her show from his hospital bed while battling osteosarcoma, a bone cancer that robbed him of a kneecap and thighbone and led to chemotherapy.
“I like her shows and how she plays, dances and stuff,” Jorian, himself a dance machine, said of the popular talk show host with a loyal Dayton following.
The Dayton chapter of A Special Wish Foundation has helped grant wishes to more than 1,600 children battling life-threatening illnesses for more than 30 years.
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The organization is pulling for Jorian, its executive director David Seyer said.
“Ellen has granted two other wishes for ASW and the families had an experience that will last a lifetime. We hope Ellen will once again give us the green light so Jorian and his family will soon be one their way to California,” he said.
The show appears 4 p.m. weekdays on WHIO Channel 7.
The station is also pulling for the avid reader, who’s a fan of sports and gospel music.
"We've reached out to Warner Brothers to try and make this little boy's wish come true, and are hoping that Ellen's producers will assist," said Fantine Kerckaert, the TV station's program director.
Like this news organization, WHIO is a Cox Media Group Ohio company.
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The road has been anything but easy for Jorian.
The then-9-year-old was diagnosed with the aggressive bone cancer May 5, 2016 after his mom, Katoika Robinson, took him to Dayton Children’s Hospital to check on a knee injury he suffered earlier during a fall at recess.
Bone cancer was suspected after X-ray was taken at the hospital.
Credit: Submitted by Katoika Robinson
Credit: Submitted by Katoika Robinson
A biopsy confirmed that diagnosis the following morning, said Katoika, a single mother of five rambunctious boys ranging from age 13 to age 8.
"With five boys, you can imagine how many times I have been to the hospital for scrapes and bumps," Katoika said.
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When he complained of knee pain days after the fall and asked for medicine, Katoika first gave Jorian Tylenol and reminded him that he refused to ice his knee or sit down following the fall.
When things didn’t get better, she took him to Children’s. The injury turned out to be a godsend.
“My baby probably would not have been here (if not for the fall),” she said.
Credit: Submitted by Katoika Robinson
Credit: Submitted by Katoika Robinson
After chemotherapy and surgical procedures that saw the replacement of his knee with a plastic cap and his femur with a metal rod, Jorian was declared cancer-free in January.
“The chemo did what it was supposed to do. It killed the cancer, but it was so strong,” Katoika said.
The Dayton boy walks with a limp, can’t participate in sports and has congestive heart failure as the result of strong chemo, his grateful mother said.
He will endure frequent adjustments of the rod until he is 16.
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Katoika said a limb salvage surgical procedure at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus saved her son’s leg from complete amputation.
“I have faith greater than a size of a mustard seed. I prayed every night,” said the hotel housekeeper, who formerly worked at Fuyao Glass America in Moraine. “As a mom, I was going to try every resource. Amputating my baby’s leg was going to be the last thing I did.”
She hopes his wish to see Ellen comes true.
Jorian’s second wish is for a shopping spree and his third is to go to Disney World, but Katoika said a meeting with Ellen is what Jorian truly wishes.
Self-conscious about his disability and unable to walk well — he is currently attends school online at home for health reasons — Jorian would have to use a wheelchair at Walt Disney World.
Credit: Submitted by Katoika Robinson
Credit: Submitted by Katoika Robinson
He told his mom he would only want the shopping spree if he could also buy gifts for his brothers Janiez Robinson and Davion, Da'Marion and Kai'von Johnson. He wouldn’t be able to get items for other people due to A Special Wish rules, his mother said.
“He has the world’s biggest heart,” she said of Jorian, her second youngest.
For his part, Jorian said he doesn’t know what he’ll say to Ellen if given a chance, but he wants to dance with her.
“I am boy and (dancing is) what boys do nowadays,” he explained.
He also has a message for other kids fighting cancer.
“They are going to beat it,” Jorian said.
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