“He’s a great role model for me”

EAGLE - One Eagle family says when their little boy was diagnosed with leukemia just over a year ago, they started a cancer support network.

Isaiah Rodriguez, 10, is battling a rare form of leukemia that’s usually found in adults.

After five rounds of chemotherapy, the cancer support network is now dubbed “Overcome.”

"Getting all the shots and throwing up and getting sick, you kind of get used to it for a while," said Isaiah.

The network said Isaiah’s family hung a piece of paper with the word overcome on the door of his hospital room.

“It was something that I actually pictured in my mind. It was a word that came to us while we were in the hospital with Isaiah. What was special about that for us as a family was that that was a lot of how we felt.  We now had a challenge with a life-threatening disease that we had to overcome,” said Ryan Rodriguez.

The word caught on and Isaiah’s father says other families dealing with cancer began to find strength in the word.

“We realized what a powerful word that was. Not just for what our family was going through, but we also ran into people and they're like, ‘we love that word. It’s positive, it's uplifting.’”

The community of Eagle rallied around the network, with Isaiah bringing a face to a debilitating disease.

Even a teacher at Eagle Elementary that had never even met Isaiah joined the effort. 

The teacher, John Ursillo, helped to sell over 200 t-shirts to benefit the cancer network, each proudly labeled with the word that started it all: overcome.

“He's a great role model for me.  Often times you serve as a role model for your students, however in this case, Isaiah and his strength and courage have really been a role model for me,” said Ursillo.

Isaiah's cancer has been in remission for the past few months, but he may soon be heading back to the hospital. Isaiah’s family says the cancer has returned.

Isaiah’s still staying positive though, he says it's a new challenge to overcome.

You can find more information about the network at OvercomeAll.org