NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — A Titans superfan has been in the hospital battling complications from RSV for months. And now, the Titans community is rallying around the 7-year-old.
On sunny afternoons, Landon Binkley loved cheering on the Titans with his mom, Ashley. But in November, Landon was hospitalized with RSV-related complications.
"Landon was on the ventilator for five and a half weeks," Ashley Binkley said.
For Ashley it was like de ja vu. Born at 24 weeks, Landon spent months in the NICU at Monroe Carrell Junior Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt. Once again, Landon was fighting for his life.
They had trouble getting him off the ventilator and looked at alternative options.
"I was an absolute mess during that time because we didn’t know what was going to happen — that was I knew he was sick on the ventilator, but it was probably the moment I knew it was really bad," Binkley said.
On a hard day, Ashley posted a photo on X-Twitter of Landon in a Tennessee Titans shirt in the hospital.
"I was by myself it was like 2 o'clock in the morning, and I didn’t know what to do. So, I was like I’m just going to ask people to pray for me,” Binkley said. “I sent out that tweet and I had no idea it would ever go viral the way it did."
It caught the attention of Titans player Eric Garror too.
"It was just like a bright light in that moment that he wanted to honor Landon by wearing cleats with his name on it, so that was something that just brightened my day," Binkley said.
And it didn't stop there. Garror visited Landon in person and gave him a fist bump.
"And he was able to wave at him, so that was really special," Binkley said.
Eventually, Landon got off the ventilator. Then, Garror visited him again.
“I pushed him around the unit, and he was introducing everybody to his Titans’ friend, and they went to the playroom and they played video games together. It was just so kind," Binkley said. "We’ve had so much support."
Now, Landon has been transferred to a rehabilitation hospital in Atlanta. Hopefully, they'll be able to return to Titans games soon.
Another Titans fan started a GoFundMe for Ashley. She's on leave from work while taking care of Landon. A T-shirt called ‘the toughest Titan’ was made to help them too.
