ATHENA — They call him Q.

Unlike Q of James Bond fame, this Q’s specialty isn’t espionage or high-tech gadgetry. Rather, Quincy Stanford is an expert on things like courage and perseverance.

The 9-year-old spent the last few years fighting cancer. On Saturday, on Quincy’s last day of chemo, fellow students, teachers and staff from Athena Elementary School gave him a celebratory parade to mark the day.

It was a long time coming. Quincy’s mom, Rachel Stanford, said her son was limp and lethargic on the day he was diagnosed with T-cell lymphoblastic leukemia 3½ years ago. The 5-year-old was taken from the emergency room at St. Mary Medical Center in Walla Walla, Washington, to Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane. Later, he went to Oregon Health & Science University’s Doernbecher Children’s Hospital in Portland, but it took about a month to make the transfer.

“The doctor wouldn’t let Quincy leave,” Rachel said. “He was so sick. A normal white blood cell count is 4,000. His was 240,000.”

Finally, Q reached Doernbecher. The family, which lives in Milton-Freewater, spent much of the next year in Portland. Rachel and Nick dropped out of college to emotionally support their son. Quincy’s brother, Ezekiel, now 4, learned to walk at Doernbecher where he developed a penchant for exploration and was nicknamed “Zeke the Sneak” by nurses. Quincy endured the grueling treatment regimen with bravery, according to his mom.

The boy eventually improved enough to continue chemo in pill form from home with monthly trips back to the hospital for injections through a port. Rachel returned to school and recently finished her student teaching at Athena Elementary School.

Because of COVID-19, Quincy missed out on the traditional OHSU bell-ringing ceremony that normally happens when a child finishes in-hospital chemo. Typically, medical staff and the patient’s extended family gather to honor the child, who rings a bell. Q was excited, then disappointed.

He felt better when he received a photo that day of his classmates and teachers all wearing T-shirts imprinted with Quincy’s photo. On the back were the words “It was tough, but I was tougher.”

As Quincy’s home-chemo treatments neared an end this month, his supporters struggled to figure out a way to mark the day. The family’s plans to celebrate the accomplishment with a trip to Disneyland went on hold because of the pandemic. An all-school assembly was axed for the same reason. Ultimately, school staff and Quincy’s parents decided on a parade.

“Everyone in his class has gone through this with him,” said Athena second-grade teacher Craig Taylor. “We needed to do something.”

On Saturday, the family — Rachel, his dad, Nick, Ezekiel and sister, Natalie, 7 — settled on Main Street in chairs. On a flatbed trailer next to Q sat a huge bell used at Weston-McEwen football games. Quincy sported a black shirt with bright orange letters that said “LAST DAY OF CHEMO.” The rest of the family wore shirts featuring a photo of Quincy dressed as Captain America and the words “Team Q.”

At 1 p.m. sharp, the parade began. A long line of cars, bikes, scooters and even a bus snaked by the boy and his family. People whooped and hollered and held out signs that proclaimed “We love you Q.” Across the street, several children operated bubble-making machines. The bubbles floated toward Quincy. From the family’s pickup flowed “Raise a Hallelujah,” the favorite song of Quincy and his best friend, Keaton, with whom Quincy became close at Doernbecher when both were under treatment. Keaton, who had four bouts with leukemia, died two weeks ago.

In the middle of the cacophony, Quincy rang the bell with gusto.

Afterward, he described the experience as “the best day ever.” His parents concurred.

“It was amazing,” Rachel said. “Lots of happy tears. Really special. He deserved all of it.”

“We want to give a big thank you to all of our family and friends, and especially the two communities of Athena and Milton-Freewater who have given us all the love and support they have over the last couple of years,” Nick said. “We couldn’t have done it without them.”