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LAYTON — It's been more than a year since 6-year-old JP Gibson signed a one-night contract with the Utah Jazz and six months since he took his last chemotherapy pill.
Since then, the acute lymphoblastic leukemia survivor has been busy with kindergarten, soccer, three dance classes and soon, basketball.
"My husband and I decided that we would let our kids try anything," JP's mother, Megan Gibson, said. "...We're willing to let them try everything and decide what they are good at or what they love doing. And with JP, that happens to be everything."
For JP, it's normal that people will shout his name and high-five him at Jazz games. In fact, he thinks he's still on the team.
"I don't know there's a bigger Jazz fan," Gibson said. "...He loves everything Jazz. He knows the players, he knows their numbers, he knows everything about them," Gibson said.
When the team recently signed Trey Lyles, JP told his mom they needed to write a card for him to welcome him to the team.
A lover of all sports, JP will select a favorite NFL game he's watched and recreate it in the family room by putting on his jersey, turning out the lights, introducing himself and running into the room.
"But I mean, that's kind of how he's always been. He's just very confident, he's very energetic, he's very into everything, he's a fun kid," Megan Gibson said.
JP did chemotherapy for more than three years, but has been able to live his life pretty normally the last couple years since it was the maintenance phase of his treatment.
As for not doing daily treatment anymore, Gibson said they are trying to find a new normal. They are elated he is done with chemotherapy, but she and her husband are also afraid to not have the safety net of the hospital being on call for them and afraid the cancer will come back.
"It's a weird place to be, because you're super excited to be done but you're terrified to not be actively doing something against his cancer," she said.
Since her son's experience with cancer, Gibson said they are more empathetic and not quick to judge and they look for ways to serve others.
"...We've been on the receiving end of so much service and love that there's no way we could ever pay it back but if we can pay it forward in any aspect, we do try and do that as much as we can," Gibson said.
