HUBER HEIGHTS — More than 117 million people will be watching the Super Bowl tomorrow, according to PredictHQ.
Here in Miami Valley, one young boy will be watching from his hospital bed.
Three-year-old Sammy Jones, also known as “Superman Sammy” from Huber Heights is arguably one of the youngest and biggest Bengals fans out there.
Jones gives it his all, not just when he is rooting for his team but in everyday life.
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He has been at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital for about three months.
Jones was born with a very rare birth defect, Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome and has had four open-heart surgeries.
“It’s important to maintain a positive mental attitude, we can’t try to control the uncontrollable,” Garland Jones, Sammy’s father said.
In early November, Sammy’s condition got worse.
Doctors at Dayton Children’s hospital told his family that his heart was giving out on him.
Sammy is kept on a machine called a Berlin Heart, which takes over the function of his heart.
Doctors told the family if it wasn’t for this machine Sammy’s heart would have stopped beating in December.
“It’s basically giving us more time to find a happy healthy heart that suits him,” Garland said.
But finding that heart has proved to be difficult due to Sammy’s young age and rare blood type.
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While Sammy’s machine is saving his life it requires him to stay near his hospital bed.
“He feels great, like greater than he’s ever felt, but he can’t go anywhere,” Garland said.
The hospital staff is making him feel right at home.
“You just face adversity and keep swinging and sticking and moving. That’s all we can do,” Garland said.
Sammy and his dad are planning to catch tomorrow’s game from their hospital room.
The family has started an online fundraiser for Sammy’s medical costs.