Jon Johanson shows off the size-13 Nike Air Jordans given to him by Leonard Stokes. (Steven M. Herppich photo) | ZOOM |

By Michael Perry
The Cincinnati Enquirer

The game was over. Leonard Stokes had showered, dressed and was signing autographs outside the University of Cincinnati basketball team's locker room.

A teen-ager in a wheelchair was waiting in line. "You're my favorite player," he told Stokes. Touched by this, Stokes quietly went into the locker room and found the pair of size-13 Nike Air Jordans he had worn during that night's game. He handed them to a student manager and asked that he give them to the boy. Then he watched from a distance.

"These are for you," the manager said. "Leonard Stokes wants you to have these."

Jon Johanson couldn't believe it. Neither could his mother, Nancy, who started to tear up and walked right to Stokes to thank him. Jon also thanked him.

"You're welcome," was all Stokes said.

"There are a billion people on the Earth, and he's telling me I'm his favorite basketball player," said Stokes, a 6-foot-6 senior from Buffalo, N.Y. "He made me feel kind of special, so I thought: Why don't I do something special for him?

"When I saw the manager give them to him, I was looking at his expression. He was so happy. That was all for me. It wasn't anything to make a big deal out of. It was just something between me and him. I felt a lot of respect for him. You do good things for people who are less fortunate than you."

Stokes

And that was that. A random act of kindness, over in minutes for Stokes.

For Johanson, now 19, and his family, it is everlasting.

"I think it was a magical moment that symbolized the goodness in people," Nancy Johanson said. "That a perfect stranger would do something that was so generous and meaningful for a fan. I think that's why it lives on. It was a very loving moment. Everyone I have shared this story with has been really touched; it restores people's sense of goodness."

A magical day

It was Feb. 15. The Bearcats routed Southern Mississippi 89-37 at Shoemaker Center. Steve Logan outscored the Golden Eagles all by himself with 41 points.

Jon Johanson attended the game after getting tickets from his older brother Christian. He watched from his wheelchair behind the baseline near the UC bench.

He grew up in Clifton and has always been a Bearcats fan. Many family members, including his grandparents, an uncle and both parents, attended UC. In Jon's room are Bearcat posters, a clock, garbage can, hat, pennant, banner and backboard. A UC warm-up hangs on the doorknob. There are three signed letters from Cincinnati coach Bob Huggins, one of which is framed. Jon's wheelchair is black and red with a UC basketball side panel.

Johanson's room is decorated in Bearcat red and black. (Steven M. Herppich photo) | ZOOM |

Stokes' high-top, black-on-black leather basketball shoes will always be special. Johanson proudly wore them to school at Western Hills the following Monday and was eager to tell anyone that he had Leonard Stokes' shoes.

"I think they were surprised," Jon says. "A lot of people at school were saying they wanted to have my shoes."

He wore them for weeks, day and night - even though they were four sizes too big. They remain in his bedroom on a shelf high enough to ensure the family's two Labrador retrievers can't get to them.

"I have had people tell me all they ever heard was negative things about the UC players, and I cannot believe that because all my experiences have been so positive," Nancy Johanson said.

Surviving, and thriving

Jon, the second-youngest of five children, was born 10 weeks early and weighed just 2‡ pounds.

He remained hospitalized in the intensive care unit for three months, first at Good Samaritan, then at Children's Hospital. His lungs were underdeveloped. He stopped breathing several times in the first few days.

Doctors didn't think he was going to make it.

Before he turned 1, Jon was diagnosed with cerebral palsy, which affects a person's muscle control.

"It's a miracle that he's alive," Nancy said. "He's been a total miracle kid. Every birthday is really special."

Jon experiences periods of chronic pain but leads an active life. He has played baseball and played the guitar.

He has been working at Children's Hospital since July, "driving" blood samples from various departments to the blood bank. He continues to participate in a job training program through Great Oaks Institute of Technology and Career Development, his mother said.

Jon is a sports fanatic, following games on radio and TV. His family was living in California for about a year, during which the Bearcats played in the 2001 NCAA Tournament West Regional in San Diego and Anaheim. The Johansons drove to Anaheim to watch a UC open practice.

He's got tickets to four UC games this season.

"Most kids with special needs, they do almost an invisible kind of job on the planet - they open human hearts," Nancy said. "I have been privileged to be with Jon on so many occasions where ... people will step out of their own little worlds and offer themselves in a really beautiful way."

Everybody matters

Professional and college athletes often exist in a vacuum. They are so focused on their sport. Most of their needs are met.

They are adored by fans and built up in the media.

Leonard Stokes remains largely unaffected by any of that.

"My mom (Candace Quarles) and grandmother (Betty Parker) raised me and my two brothers," Stokes said. "They always taught me to respect people no matter who they were."

Quarles is a developmental aide for the state of New York, working with people with disabilities in their homes.

Stokes never told his mother of his encounter with Jon Johanson. But when Quarles heard about it, she wasn't surprised.

"It makes me feel good," she said. "I can expect that from Leonard. It's just in his nature. I know Leonard's heart."

Nancy Johanson shared Jon's experience with Stokes only with close friends and family members. She also wrote Huggins, who gave the letter to Stokes.

"Every single time Jon and I have gone to a basketball game, the players after the game have been generous, open-hearted and kind," she said. "This particular evening was even more so because of what a beautiful guy (Stokes) is. It created so much good will."

E-mail mperry@enquirer.com