HUBER HEIGHTS, Ohio (WDTN) – A Huber Heights boy with a big heart for the Cincinnati Bengals got to watch the AFC Championship game from home instead of from a hospital bed this year.
2 NEWS has been following 4-year-old “Superman” Sammy Jones’ heart journey from the beginning.
This time last year, Super Sammy was cheering on the Bengals in the AFC Championship from Cincinnati Children’s Hospital while waiting on a new heart.
This year, after a successful heart transplant, Sammy got to cheer on the Bengals from home. His father, Garland Jones II, said Sammy was anticipating the game all week.
“Do the Bengals play today? No, that’s Sunday,” Jones said, recalling a conversation he had this week with Sammy. “Do they play today? No, that’s tomorrow. Do they play today? Yes, they play today.”
Jones said while in the hospital, Sammy had a dream to watch the Bengals play at Paycor Stadium. Local Bengals fans made that possible this October.
“Someone that saw us on on one of these TV interviews that reached out to us on Facebook,” Jones said. “It was like, ‘man, you’ve got to take him to a game.’ I’m like, ‘I’m going to try,’ and ‘We’re going to make sure you go,’ And I was like, ‘Wow.’ It was just such a blessing. God is so good.”
Sammy was born with a rare heart condition, last April he had a heart transplant, and he finally returned home to Huber Heights in June after spending nine months in Cincinnati.
Jones said the best part so far has been able to be together as a family again, especially during the holidays.
“This year it wasn’t so much about the gifts and everything, it was just about the gift of being together,” Jones said.
Jones said Sammy is now in preschool, and his trips to Cincinnati Children’s are becoming fewer and fewer. He said Sammy wanted to start playing sports, but they decided to hold off this year.
Jones said Sammy is full of the same energy any normal 4-year-old would have.
“It’s just crazy what a new heart will do for you,” Jones said.
Jones said the next big thing Sammy and his family are looking forward to is a trip to Disney World with Make a Wish this summer.
