The Joines Family pauses for a photo. They are (from left) Roger Sipe, Ezekiel Joines, Shelly and Landon Joines and Jeremiah Joines. Photo Courtesy of Whitney Gray

Joines' story of trials and triumph continues

With news of officially being on an intestine transplant list, Landon Joines continues to fight for his life. Landon Joines, 16 months, is the son of Alleghany native Jeremiah Joines and wife Shelly and grandson of Alleghany residents Eldon and Kathy Joines. With the transplant on the horizon, Landon and his parents are making plans to move to the Durham area, awaiting the time for the transplant that could be as soon as a week or as late as a year, according to the Joines family.

Kathy explained, "They're talking about putting him on the list for his small intestines only at this time. They were saying they would probably have a few dry runs; they will go and maybe something won't work out. Right now, he's doing wonderful since he got out of the hospital with the fever and the infection that he had, everything's doing good right now. His weight is real good, everything else seems to be going real well with him he's got a good chance of getting this transplant and coming out of it real good. He's got a good weight to him, he's strong, he's not behind in any of his skills or anything like that. He's our miracle for sure. He's been through a lot, he's tough. He comes out of all of his surgeries and everything that they've done. He comes out real good, he gets over it real quick; he forgets about it and he goes on smiling."

Events have been held in his honor that have brought in funds—the most recent being a bowl-a-rama and auction, that brought in in excess of $3,000.

Kathy added, "When we knew Landon was going to have to have a transplant, we wanted to be ready. And while we're strong, we also want to get going to raise the money, and get the community involved, let everybody know.