Although many states didn’t allow trick-or-treating this year, plenty of people still pulled off some amazing costumes for Halloween at home. That included 2-year-old Jonah Bump, who went as his favorite superhero — Dr. William Tse of the Norton Children's Cancer Institute in Louisville, Kentucky, who saved the young boy’s life.
Jonah was born with a life-threatening condition called severe combined immunodeficiency.
Although he was born that way, Jonah wasn’t diagnosed until months later. At 5 months, the now-toddler kept getting severe lung infections because his combined immunodeficiency meant he didn’t have much of an immune system, KENS 5 reported.
When Jonah was 7 months old, Tse and his team performed a stem cell transplant on him.
Speaking with WLKY, Tse was candid and explained that Jonah’s condition was “dangerous.”
“If there's no transplantation for these patients in a few months, they will succumb to severe infection in a few months,” he explained.
Thanks to stem cells from an anonymous donor, Jonah was able to receive his transplant in September 2018.
“Neither of us knew we were carriers for (the disease),” mom Laurie Bump told WLKY in March 2019. “It's a pretty rare disease.”
"Our local pediatrician (said) it's not something that would have come to mind to them to check for,” she added.
The treatment completely changed the trajectory of Jonah’s life.
He made a full recovery, and he’s able to live his life like a normal, healthy toddler.
Today, Jonah loves playing doctor around the house.
His mom told WLKY on Friday that Jonah even has a tiny doctor’s kit that he likes to play with, so his costume choice shouldn’t be any surprise.
“Dr. Tse is a hero in the Bump house,” she explained. “So we thought it would be cool to just show him how much we appreciate his superpowers.”
Jonah nailed his costume — and it’s not just us who thinks so.
Tse spoke to the news station and was impressed with the way the Bumps were able to capture all of the details.
"For example, the blue button-down shirt,” he said. “The blue tie he wears, that's 100% me, even the name tag. They added the word junior next to it,” he explained.
It’s just another example that not every hero needs to wear a cape.
