By Debbie Adams

Mason Moses was jubilantly welcomed home by family and friends as he and his parents, Ashleigh and Tim Pinion, returned home from Cincinnati Children’s Hospital where he has been undergoing treatments for a rare disease– Fanconi Anemia– including a bone marrow transplant.

On the evening of October 15, a motorcycle escort met them at the bottom of Washington Avenue at Vinton Motors and led them through town and into their subdivision where the streets were lined with supporters and well-wishers and “Welcome Home” signs. A huge crowd of family, friends, and members of his ever-faithful Vinton Baptist Church family stood outside their home with more signs and balloons along with a Vinton firetruck and three firefighters. Strangely enough there was a rainbow over Mason’s house as he arrived.

Mason and his parents have spent the months since June in Cincinnati at the hospital and at Ronald McDonald House.

Mason said, “I’ll always love Cincinnati; this city played a role in saving my life.”

“Many of you have asked what ‘coming home’ looks like for us,” said Pinion as Mason was about to be released. “Honestly, it won’t be much different from our life here in Cincinnati except we will be home. We will still be in isolation. Mason’s immune system is still trying to recover and grow. The immune study labs will be run every two months and once they show his immune system can handle viral and fungal infections, he will slowly be reintegrated into society, taken off medications and allowed to lift restrictions slowly. Remember, the transplant wiped out all vaccines, so Mason is completely un-vaccinated right now. He will not be able to be re-vaccinated until we are at least a year post-transplant.”

However, “The day is here, we are home!”