Loved ones celebrated Tuesday afternoon — the culmination of a months-long journey of a boy overcoming a serious diagnosis.
And to welcome him home, one community rolled out the red carpet.
“This has just been an amazing journey for our whole family. I mean, when you consider that five and a half months ago, he was in cardiac arrest in this house, he was life-flighted to Cleveland, and really the future was very uncertain,” said Mark Fuhrman, Jonah’s grandfather.
Jonah Allgeier was diagnosed with a rare heart disease at the age of six and was in desperate need of a heart transplant.
It’s the same rare condition his mother faced nearly 23 years ago.
“It was tremendously helpful. And to be on the same floor where I was, and to have some of the same doctors and nurses that I had all of those years ago, it was just such a comfort,” said Lindsay Allgeier, Jonah’s mother.
Jonah had been at Cleveland Clinic for 23 weeks and two days before he finally was able to come home Tuesday. That’s after receiving a heart transplant on Easter Sunday.
When he got home, he accomplished something he hadn’t been able to do in five months.
“I asked Jonah, I said, ‘What’s the first thing you want to do when you get home?’ You know what his answer was? ‘I wanna run.’ because he hasn’t been able to run,” said Fuhrman. “So to see him here with his friends that live across the street and see the embrace that we have from our neighborhood and the community…I just am so proud of him that he’s gotten through this and each step of the way, he looked at his mom because she went through this.”
Jonah’s mother continued to praise the generosity of the Erie community and credited them for making it through each roadblock.
“I really, truly cannot thank you all enough from the bottom of our hearts for everything that you have done, and for all of the support. It means the world, thank you,” said Lindsay.
“He had three minutes to live when he went into cardiac arrest and he lived. I thank God for that. This young man has a future I just can’t wait to see unfold,” said Fuhrman.
Even though Jonah is home, they still have a ways to go on their journey.
Medical expenses continue to pile up for the family. More fundraisers will be held in the near future.