His last word was “Mommy.” Reginald “Butta” Joyner then took a quiet, final breath and the five-year-old was gone. His nearly seven-month-long battle with a rare brain tumor ended Sunday afternoon in his mother’s arms.

In those final moments, those who loved him the most were there to say good-bye.

“Just before, I kissed him and told him ‘I love you’,” Cheryl said. “I held him and we were surrounded by family.”

This chubby little boy with a bright smile had only a short time on Earth, but he managed to touch the hearts of many Selma residents.

Diagnosed in late March with an inoperable tumor on his brain stem, Reginald was forced to undergo months of daily chemotherapy and radiation treatments at the Wallace Tumor Institute in Birmingham.

The harsh cancer treatments and having to spend every weekday away from his family and classmates at Knox Elementary School was hard for Reginald, but he proved to have more strength than most adults could handle.

Jocelyn Reddick, principal of Knox Elementary, recalled the day Reginald came to visit his pre-kindergarten class shortly after completing his treatments.

“He could hardly walk and I had a tricycle ready to push him down the hall,” Reddick said. “He refused to use it and walked down the hallway to visit his class.”

For this amazing feat, Knox presented Reginald with an Endurance Award.

“He was Knox’s angel,” Reddick said. “It’s very sad that our little angel gathered his wings and left.”

The school plans to hold a short memorial service for him today.

Cheryl said the outpouring of support and prayers her family received from the Selma community since Reginald’s diagnosis has been overwhelming.

“Everybody in the entire Selma City School System did so much for us,” she said.

Reddick said the school system raised around $2,000 to help pay some of Reginald’s medical bills.

Cheryl also had many thanks to area churches and individuals for their monetary donations and prayers.

Also included on Cheryl’s thank-you list is Dr. Patricia Robinson, Dr. Alyssa Reddy at Clinic 5 at the Birmingham Children’s Hospital, Cahaba Hospice, Vaughan Regional Medical Center, and the Bibb County Correctional Facility.

“There were just so many people who helped us,” Cheryl said. “I just want to thank everybody.”

In July, shortly after his doctors allowed Reginald to come home for good, The Make-A- Wish Foundation sent Reginald and his family on a trip to Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla.

“We had so much fun,” Cheryl said. “He really enjoyed it.”

Cheryl said simply knowing her son is no longer in pain helps her cope with the devastating loss.

“I was never prepared for this,” she said. “It has been some work, but my heavy heart has been lifted knowing he is in a better place.”

Reginald spent his last day doing what he always did on Sundays. He went to church with his family.

Afterwards, as his mom was taking him to a restaurant for lunch, Reginald suddenly became very sick.

Cheryl rushed her son back home and, knowing the time had come, notified close relatives and friends.

“When the hearse came the funeral home let my pastor, John E. Grayson, and my God-brother, Michael Goings, wrap him up in a blanket and carry him out,” Cheryl said.

Reginald’s funeral will take place at 2 p.m. Friday at Gospel Tabernacle Church of Christ with the Rev. Grayson officiating. Burial will follow at Fairlawn Cemetery.

Following the services, the family will receive friends at the Woodrow Community Center.

Along with his mother and many other relatives, Reginald also leaves behind older brother Courtney and older sister Tamara.

Though Reginald did not live to see adulthood, Cheryl strongly believes her son’s short life was filled with purpose.

“I feel truly blessed because of him,” she said.