Injured cheerleader welcomed home from hospital

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) - An emotional homecoming took place Thursday evening for a little girl who was badly hurt in a car crash.

Dozens of friends and classmates lined up along Camden Road in Huntington with signs to make sure 9-year-old London Banfi knew how grateful they are to have her back.

London, her friend Saylor Page, and their mothers were on their way back March 12 from a cheer competition near Cincinnati when the car they were in was rear-ended in Adams County, Ohio.

London’s injuries included a broken femur, a broken tibia, a broken hip, broken fingers, and a concussion.

The Kellogg Elementary student was in a hospital in Cincinnati for 11 days.

Thursday evening, a large crowd cheered as her van pulled into the old Food Fair parking lot in Westmoreland.

When asked what her reaction was when seeing the turnout, London’s mother Holley Banfi said, “I have no words. I really don’t. The way this community and everybody has supported us is unreal.”

London will be homebound the rest of the school year and is expected to be sidelined from cheering until the middle of next season.

When asked how she felt when she learned she’d be returning home, London said, “I was so glad. I didn’t want to be in that hospital anymore. I’m blessed that I’m back home and alive.”

Saylor Page, who was also severely injured in the accident, is at the Ronald McDonald House in Cincinnati, unable to return home yet as she continues to recover.

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