In a matter of weeks little Reginald “Butta” Goyner will be able to come home for good.

No more weekdays spent in Birmingham away from his family, staying in a strange room and going to Wallace Tumor Institute every day for cancer treatment.

The four-year-old will eventually be back in Selma among the people he loves, enjoying a life that very easily could have been lost.

Reginald’s harrowing ordeal began on March 22, when his mother, Sheryl Goyner, rushed him to pediatrician Dr. Patricia Robinson’s office after she noticed something was wrong.

“He was staggering around, I was thinking his iron might be low,” Goyner said.

After being admitted to the hospital overnight, several tests and an MRI scan revealed the bad news.

Reginald had an inoperable tumor on his brain stem.

The young boy was transported to Children’s Hospital in Birmingham, where doctors explained to Sheryl that surgery would be too risky and her son’s best hope would be daily doses of chemotherapy and radiation.

Since then, Sheryl and Reginald have been staying in Birmingham at a free facility for cancer patients and their families as Reginald undergoes treatment.

His chemotherapy is taken in pill form, while he goes to radiation five days a week.

“(Reginald) has been a real trooper,” Sheryl said. “He does not even need sedation when getting radiation, and he is responding well to the treatment. His tumor is shrinking.”

With his treatment almost completed, Reginald’s family could not have asked for a greater blessing.

Yet the biggest surprise came from the Selma community itself, as hundreds of residents banded together to offer their support and prayers.

“I really just want to say a big ‘thank you’ to all those people who have done something fur us, especially those I don’t even know.”

At Knox Elementary, where Reginald attended pre-kindergarten, students were asked to donate $1 to help their classmate and his family. Numerous churches around the city have also offered their prayers and support.

“They prayers have just been overwhelming,” Sheryl said. “The support I have received has been perfect. Many churches, as well as my family and friends, have just been so supportive. The staff at the Selma Country Club, I love them dearly.”

Sheryl’s two older children, eight-year-old Tamara and six-year-old Courtney, have been staying with their god-sister Shawana Bell as their mother drives back and forth from Birmingham.

Throughout this entire ordeal, Sheryl said, her family has seen the graciousness of Selma and been overwhelmed by the many kind gestures.

The Goyner family is not only thankful that Reginald is still alive, they are thankful for the large outpouring of love from this city.