Cho Jeong-sik weeps in bathroom as son's 10-year medical battle ends

English instructor and broadcaster Cho Jeong-sik shed long-held tears as he shared the news that his eldest son's arrhythmia treatment has effectively concluded. His son, who had an irregular heartbeat even before birth and was admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit, had to undergo annual checkups even after stopping medication. For the parents, that journey was a decade-long stretch where joy and anxiety constantly intersected.

On the 9th, Cho posted a long message on his SNS, relaying the medical staff's words: “He is healthy. You don't need to make any more medical appointments.” He confessed, “I cried for a long time in the bathroom where no one else was.” It was a burst of tears as the tension that had occupied his family's life for a long time was released in an instant.

According to Cho, his eldest son's heart rate was irregular even before birth. Immediately after birth, the child was admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit, and Cho had to sign a medical opinion stating that sleep induction was necessary for a baby who was not even 24 hours old.

At the time, the emotion Cho felt was helplessness as a parent. Recalling the situation, he said he “struggled with a sense of helplessness in the face of the fact that there was nothing he could do.” Because the child was so young, it was a period when it was even difficult to explain the meaning of the treatment process.

As time passed, moments of relief arrived little by little. When he heard that the child could stop medication after passing 24 months of age, Cho said he was “endlessly happy.” However, the end of drug treatment did not immediately end the parents' anxiety.

Even after that, the son had to undergo annual electrocardiogram (ECG) tests. Cho revealed that to help his young son accept the unfamiliar testing process, he showed him the movie 'Iron Man' and explained it as if the test were something special. However, he said that during each of those moments, he and his wife were still “crying every time.”

A parent's anxiety surrounding a child's health does not end just by walking out of the hospital doors. Even after hearing that symptoms have improved, parents constantly check to see if problems might arise again or if they might hear something different during the next checkup. For Cho, the annual ECG tests were not merely medical procedures, but a marker of the time his family had endured over the past 10 years.

In that sense, this medical visit was special. Cho shared, “They said it is okay to stop the medication,” and “They said there would be no problem even if we only do a checkup once a year. I was told that exercise tests would not be necessary.” And finally, he heard that he no longer needs to make medical appointments.

The words he spoke to his son compressed the time of the last 10 years. Cho said, “To me, you, who went through that period, are a hero. You, who have lived each day healthily, are a miracle.”

To parents, a child's health seems like a given, but for a family that has experienced the fact that such a given can be broken at any time, the ordinariness of each day itself becomes a blessing. This is why Cho expressed the end of his son's treatment not as a simple conclusion of a medical procedure, but as a 'miracle.'

He also expressed his gratitude to those who cheered for him and his family. In particular, he recalled those who were with him in the past, saying, “It is a gratitude created by all of you who cried for me in that classroom back in February 2016, when I asked you to pray for my child's health.”

He continued, “Today, my wife and I have received the greatest blessing since our marriage.” At the end of the long-lasting treatment and checkups, what the couple confirmed was not a grand success or fame, but the fact that they can fully enjoy the ordinary daily life of their family.

As Cho's story became known, congratulations and support poured in online. Netizens reacted by comforting the parents for their long period of mental distress and expressing hope that both the child and the family will now spend healthy and peaceful times.

After gaining fame as a CSAT English instructor, Cho expanded his broadcasting career by appearing in series such as Channel A's 'Please Take Care of My Grades: Teachers.' While he became a familiar figure to the public by moving between educational content and variety shows, this story left a deeper resonance as it focused on his private time as a father of a child, separate from his social position as a star instructor.

However, Cho is currently undergoing trial on charges of receiving money and goods from current teachers during the textbook production process. As Cho's side denies the relevant charges, it is necessary to distinguish the facts until the court's final judgment is delivered.

His private joy and his current legal situation are separate issues. What is clear in this news is that a father, who had spent a long time anxious over his child's health, finally shed tears of relief upon hearing from medical staff that regular appointments are no longer necessary.

For many parents, a child's health is a value so fundamental it often goes unnoticed. However, the moment that certainty is shaken, one realizes how immense a blessing an ordinary day truly is. This is why Cho described it as the "greatest blessing"—it is the meaning of the ordinary daily life he has finally reclaimed after passing through the last 10 years.