BRUNSWICK, Ohio — There's no one in the world who loves to move more than 16-year-old Mick McGinnis, a sophomore at Brunswick High School.
"I like play basketball and my bike," Mick told us.
He also loves his family too.
"My three sisters named Molly, Margaret, and Maeve," Mick said.
"You're lucky to have three sisters that care so much about you," Mick's mom, Michele, said.
The family has renewed appreciation for every moment they share with Mick.
"He was just under six months old when he had open heart surgery," Michele explained.
He recovered and got moving, yet again: Flag football, rock climbing, and everything in between. But then, in seventh grade, something felt off.
"The nurse called and said, 'Hey, during class change, he came to the office because he said his knee is bothering him,'" Michele said.
But it wasn't your average aches and pains.
"Jan. 15, 2022, is when we found out that he had leukemia. And then about an hour later we found out he was also positive for covid," Michele said. "I'll be honest, I started screaming and my girls were here and the four of us just cried together."
But if you know anything about Mick, you know he's always looking on the bright side of things.
"He's an active kid and even with everything he was going through, he still wanted to move, had energy," Michele said. "He was amazing. He helped us."
He helped, until he couldn't.
"In the end of March of 2022, he had a stroke because blood clots formed in his brain," Michele said. "He was on a ventilator for 21 days and he was in a coma for eight days."
His future was uncertain.
"Palliative care was called in," Michele said.
But again, if you know anything about Mick, you know he is a fighter.
"I knew he would come back. I knew it. And so he did," Michele said.
Still, there were more challenges to overcome.
"He couldn't walk, he couldn't sit up. I mean he couldn't even use his iPad. He had to relearn how to eat. He had to relearn everything," Michele said.
And he did. Mick did physical and occupational therapy every day. It carried him through until he could move again.
"We said, 'Wouldn't it be amazing if he could ride his bike again?'" Michele remembered. "Then I said, 'Well, wouldn't it be even better if he could do VeloSano some year?'"
He set the goal, worked hard, and now will ride the 6-mile city loop at VeloSano Saturday morning.
"I am so proud of Mick. I am blown away at what he is able to do," Michele said.
"It's a dream we weren't sure we were going to get to, so to see it, it is fantastic," Mick's dad, Mike, said.
Mick will never forget the people who got him here.
"My angel ... my mother, my father," he said.
Neither will his parents, who say the healthcare heroes at Cleveland Clinic Children's, saved Mick's life.
"There is no way to ever thank them. Truly. Every person. Not even just doctors, nurses, therapists," Michele said.
And the community — family and friends who showed up for them when it counted the most.
"Over the top support," Michele said.
However, the biggest lesson in inspiration lies with Mick. He's a kid who exemplifies the saying, "Never give up."
"Be happy and be positive and confident," Mick said.
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