AUBURN - Jonathan Moore was born prematurely, he has had problems with his kidneys and at the age of 2, he was diagnosed with autism.

Now, at 6 years old, the blond-haired, happy little boy is fighting leukemia.

“He had bags under his eyes and was always complaining of achy bones,” said Jonathan's father, Tom Moore, during a benefit given in the first-grader's honor at the Ukrainian National Club Saturday afternoon. “At first, we thought that it was the hot weather, but I just had this bad feeling that it might be cancer. All signs pointed towards it.”

Moore said the nurses at Upstate Medical Center in Syracuse couldn't believe the strength the parents had in dealing with their son's diagnosis.

“Jonathan has had medical problems his whole life,” he said. “I think that is what gave us the strength. What choice do we have?”

Even young Jonathan has been surprising the medical staff with his strength, Moore said, waiting patiently for his weekly chemotherapy treatments and even for his spinal taps.

“He doesn't cry the way that you would expect a kid to,” Moore said. “He just asks when his appointments are or when the doctors are going to knock him out for his spinal taps.”

Jonathan has a passion for zoo animals, so family and friends wore T-Shirts that said Jonathan's Zoo during the benefit.

“The T-shirts were the idea of Jonathan's older brother and his girlfriend,” said Kathy Coomber, Jonathan's mother. “He just loves zoo animals and so we decided to make the benefit a theme for him.”

“It's very hard for the family, but we will get through it,” said Justyn Coomber, Jonathan's older brother.

Though he is sick, Jonathan loves to spend time with his grandpa, and swimming is his favorite activity, Moore said.

“He loves pretty women,” he said. “He loves to just hug pretty women.”

Moore said that Jonathan knows that he is sick, yet being diagnosed with autism, he doesn't fully understand his condition.

“He doesn't understand the world around him,” Moore said. “If only we all could be a little more like Jonathan, the world would be a much happier place. He has just been perfect through it all. He knows that he is sick, but he is so strong. He doesn't want to be sick.”

Moore said that the support from the community is just wonderful, something that he has never held much belief in.

“It has changed my whole outlook on what life is all about,” he said.