Irish man Maurice Bannon appeared on Ireland's Late Late Show on Friday night alongside his wife Kandice and his young daughter Ava, who has survived a battle with a rare form of cancer.
Ava was just over a year old when she was given a 5% survival chance after being diagnosed with a rare kidney cancer but battled through her diagnosis after having one of her kidneys removed and going through 11 rounds of radiation.
Barron wrote to President Joe Biden shortly after Christmas 2021 to tell the US President that the strength he showed following his son Beau's death gave him and his wife Kandice the strength to fight for their daughter.
"Please know that your strength gave me strength and the embrace of your emotions allowed me not to feel as if I was somehow less when mine overtook me," Barron wrote to Biden.
Barron was subsequently invited to the White House in early 2022 when Biden reignited the Cancer Moonshot Initiative, while Barron, Kandice, and Ava were invited to Biden's State of the Union address in 2023.
Barron appeared on the Late Late Show on Friday night with Ava and his wife Kandice to speak about his experience with the US President and told host Ryan Tubridy that the story of how Biden overcame such tragedy during his life gave him hope.
"We couldn't find somebody who'd survived this and you're looking for this hope to hold onto," Barron said.
Kandice added that they also took inspiration from Biden's wife Jill's philosophy of "stealing a moment of joy" every day.
They introduced Tubridy to Ava, who stuck out her tongue as the camera found her.
"This is Ava, who is now sticking out her tongue," Barron said, drawing laughter from the Late Late Show audience.
"What a way to start her Irish TV career," Tubridy responded.
Ava gave Tubridy a gift of official White House chocolates that she had received during the State of the Union address, but the host noticed that there were a few chocolates missing, drawing more laughter from the audience. He later returned the box to Ava, who hilariously asked for it back mid-interview.
Tubridy showed a clip of Biden referencing Ava's cancer battle during his State of the Union address.
"They never gave up hope. Little Ava never gave up hope," Biden said during the address.
"They just found out that Ava's beating the odds," he added, drawing a standing ovation.
Ava also posed with "Better Call Saul" star Bob Odenkirk, who also appeared on Friday's show.
Thank you @mrbobodenkirk for chatting to Ava before the show and for taking time to take some pics with us. @RTELateLateShow pic.twitter.com/xPslOu8lai
— Maurice Barron (@mossnyc) April 15, 2023
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