Cincinnati Zoo Honors Little Boy’s Life After Passing Due To A Rare Illness

Oliver Nicholson is a little boy who went viral after his parents, Alex and Alyssa, honored his life by spreading awareness about the rare condition that he had.

When Oli was born along with his twin brother, they were both premature. Oli was diagnosed with VACTERL – Vertebral defects, Anal atresia, Cardiac defects, Tracheoesophageal fistula, Renal anomalies, and Limb abnormalities.

He had been an angel to his parents for 16 months. He is their sunshine. He brightened their lives until he passed away unexpectedly on February 17th.

Oli had spent most of his short life in the hospital. He had grown particularly attached to a sloth stuffed animal. His parents got him this stuffed toy as a present after his surgery. The sloth became a symbol for the family. The animals’ characteristics were very special for them because Oli had two fingers, just like a two-toed sloth.

When he passed away, a family friend shared with Alex and Alyssa that the Cincinnati Zoo’s two-toed sloth, Lightning, was going to be a mother soon. This is when a petition was started to help convince the zoo management to name the sloths’ new baby after Little Oliver. Over 81,000 people signed the petition. And due to the insistent public demand, the zoo confirmed that they are aware of the request.

Unfortunately, tragedy struck…

The zoo shared on Facebook:
“Months of anticipation and excitement surrounding the birth of what would have been the zoo’s first sloth baby ended early this morning when Lightning delivered a stillborn pup. Vets and care staff were present for the hours-long labor and are devastated by the outcome. Please keep them in your thoughts as they shift their focus to making sure that Lightning remains healthy and comfortable in the weeks ahead.”

Even though this is a great loss for the zoo officials, they hadn’t forgotten about Oliver and everyone’s request for him. The following day, the zoo official announced their plan, and this delighted everyone.

The zoo wrote on Facebook:
“We are renaming our sloth habitat to honor Oliver Nicholson, who would have been two years old today. His family is very pleased to have something positive to think about on what will still be a difficult day for them. They posted a nice note of sympathy for our sloth team yesterday when they learned that our sloth Lightning delivered a stillborn.”

Oli & Atti Facebook page also thanked the zoo for their announcement:
“We can finally share with everyone our big news. The Cincinnati Zoo will be renaming the sloth habitat, ‘The Oliver Nicholson Memorial Sloth Habitat.’ We are humbled and honored that they have decided to honor Oliver in this way. This decision was made before the unfortunate events of yesterday when the baby sloth did not survive and we are glad to be able to announce this today on what would have been Oliver’s 2nd birthday.”

They added:

“Thank you to everyone who signed, commented and shared the petition. You made this happen. Thank you to everyone in the VACTERL community. We hope this continues to be a beacon of hope for all the other children and parents out there dealing with this condition.

… We love and miss you so much Oli. We hope we made you proud.”

People were moved by Oliver’s story, including the zoo officials. And now, Oliver’s legacy lives on thanks to the graciousness of the Cincinnati Zoo.