Ramesses Vazquez Viana is making incredible strides in his recovery. However, the images and video in this story might be sensitive for some readers.
In October, joy filled the halls of Shriners Children’s Boston hospital as 10-year-old Ramesses Vazquez Viana celebrated his birthday surrounded by family that had gathered close, classmates who called in, and his mother, Jamie Vazquez Viana, who never left his side.
Ramesses is a fighter. He’s already had 42 surgeries and several months of intensive treatment since a medical transport plane, which was carrying a former Shriners Children’s Philadelphia patient, crashed and caused multiple fires in a Northeast Philadelphia neighborhood on Jan. 31, 2025.
Now the boy who captured Philadelphia’s heart has taken his next big step: he’s been moved to Weisman Children’s Rehabilitation Hospital in Marlton, New Jersey, finally closer to home.
Jamie says even through the pain, her son never stopped fighting, despite the flames from the crash leaving burns on 90% of Ramesses’ body.
“No matter how many times you knock him down, he’s strong,” she said.
In Boston, Jamie tested every small sign of progress — his hearing, his sight, his ability to wiggle his fingers and toes. And then, a breakthrough: for the first time in six months, she heard his voice.
“Hi, everybody. I love you,” Ramesses said softly.
“I cried,” his mom remembered. “Half of Philly was crying with me that day.”
From classmates to Eagles players, the city rallied behind Ramesses, sending messages of strength as he fought to recover. Now, he’s working hard in physical therapy — learning to climb stairs, get out of bed, and take those first steps again.
His therapists call every movement a small victory.
“The first day you were here, you couldn’t do that,” one tells him with a smile.
The January plane crash killed all six people aboard the plane and two people on the ground — Ramesses’ father and his father’s girlfriend. Ramesses, then just 9, was the only survivor from the car his father had been driving.
Jamie says her son remembers everything.
“He said he remembers two big booms — like two crashes at once,” she recalled. “He tried to get his dad out of the car, but he couldn’t. His dad told him to get out … said, ‘I love you.’ And he said, ‘I love you back.'”
Nearly ten months later, that same little boy sits upright in therapy, working hard and smiling for his first on-camera interview — grateful for the chance to simply be alive.
“I feel happy that I’m able to still do the things I do,” he said, glancing at his mom. “I have a feeling she’s going to cry.”
Ever the protector, Ramesses shares a message for others going through hard times.
“I want them to know God is there,” he said. “You may not hear him, but he’s listening and he’s helping.”
Jamie says her son hopes to be home by Christmas — her favorite holiday. While he’ll still need to return to Boston for future surgeries, doctors say his recovery continues to move in the right direction.
