GREENSBORO, N.C. — In a hallway filled with cheering medical staff, 10-year old William Sidebottom held his mom's hand as he walked out of the Riley Hospital for Children in Indiana on Monday.
William is the Asheboro boy who has suffered from the heart condition known as Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome (HLHS) his whole life. He has undergone several surgeries at his young age just to get a chance to live.
Late last year, William asked for Christmas cards to cheer him up after his family got disappointing news from doctors that his donor-heart was failing.
His mother Jennifer Lowery told WFMY News 2 that he was worried that would have been his last Christmas.
They wanted to make it his best Christmas and embarked on a Christmas tour of sorts. William also loves sports cars so well-wishing members of the public treated him to rides in his dream exotic cars, like Ferraris and Lamborghinis as well as a fire truck. A surprise parade of exotic sports cars was also held in his honor and to the delight of William's other school mates.
The family refused to give up on finding a new heart for William, and with the help of the public, raised money and attention to help him. The family also moved to Indiana to be closer to relatives so they could get childcare help while William and his mom were in the hospital.
After a successful heart transplant, Wiliam and his mom left the hospital this week.
"It's amazing. I honestly didn't feel like this day would ever come. I felt like we were going to stay there forever but we didn't. We made it home and he's doing really well," Jennifer Lowery said.
Lowery said they spent more than six months at Riley Children's Hospital for the duration of William's treatment.
Nurses shook maracas, played the guitar and sang "Goodbye Will" as he and his mother walked out of his hospital room, away from the ward and toward the exit. He reunited with his father and brothers and got to see their new home in Indiana for the first time.
"While he was in the hospital he was sad, he missed his brothers and nobody could come to visit so he was very sad," Lowery said. "He has not stopped smiling in three days. He giggles at everything. He's so happy to be free and be normal again and not have to see wires and eat hospital food."
William also finally got a real hair-cut and has been spending time sitting out on the porch because he hasn't been outdoors for a while, according to his mom.
