Former military captain surprised while returning home for 1st time following cancer, stroke

LAKE ELMO, Minn. – More than a dozen of Capt. John Jaros' military brothers and sisters welcomed him home Saturday – marking the next step in a multi-year recovery.

Jaros, who served as Naval Construction Battalion Captain, has spent the last year recovering from a traumatic brain bleed and stroke he had just days after being declared cancer free.

"The past two years have been a little bit of a struggle," said Jaros' wife Mary.

Mary and John met in 2012. He had recently served overseas in Iraq, directing a team in the effort to rebuild areas crucial to the war effort.

"He's one of the sweetest guys that you've ever met. Very humble, very giving, very kind," Mary Jaros said. "He's the type of guy that everybody loves."

The two were engaged and married before the end of the year. John was quickly a loving father to Mary's daughter, and the two welcomed a son not long after they wed.

In a battalion known as the Seabees (a play on the Construction Battalion initials of 'C.B.'), Jaros was considered an expert planner.

"He was just a great leader," said Chief Petty Officer Winston Kettle, who served with him in Iraq in the mid-2000s. "Very intelligent man. Civil engineer, but he's really a great people person."

But as the Coronavirus pandemic dug its heels into society in May of 2020, the Jaros' family were faced with something even the best of planners cannot prepare for.

"He noticed a bump – a huge bump, it was probably the size of maybe a tennis ball," Mary Jaros said. "He was admitted that Thursday and started chemo instantly."

John would undergo nearly a half-dozen rounds of chemotherapy to target and treat his diagnosis of T-Cell Lymphoblastic Lymphoma. While incredibly difficult for him and his family, it appeared in November 2021 that the treatment was a success.

Just days after doctors discharged him from his last round of chemo, Jaros had a traumatic brain bleed – thought to be the result of low platelets due to chemotherapy. He suffered a stroke that night. Mary Jaros said doctors gave her husband 1-2 days to live.

"In my mind, I couldn't wrap my mind around it. We just beat cancer," she said. "Everybody kept asking me if he had a living will, or does he want to live with a disability?"

Over the course of several months, Jaros was able to rehabilitate significantly – but lacked functions necessary to live independently at home.

"You have somebody that's just a good person, right? Just a family guy. He served his country," Kettle said. "He's a hardworking Minnesotan. Now he can't do much of anything. So, it makes you value life in general, it makes you count your blessings, and you want to help."

And on Saturday, Kettle and a team of others made it their mission to do just that. As Jaros prepared for his first trip home in nearly a year, a team of current and former military members were hard at work preparing a brand new brick patio and fire pit in his backyard, while taking care of other landscaping around the home.

"A commitment to each other is a big part of what we do," Kettle said. "It's one of the core values of the navy. That commitment doesn't end."

"When they put out that the Jaros family needs help getting Captain Jaros home for visits, the guys were jumping," Mary Jaros said. "When you look at the brotherhood and sisterhood of the military and the navy, I have nothing but respect for these men."