8-year-old boy returns to California from Syria to treat his rare disease

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- An 8-year-old boy who suffers from a rare disease has returned to Los Angeles for treatment, and is once again separated from his parents who live in Syria.

Eyewitness News first met Tony Alsabaa when he was 5 years old at the height of President Donald Trump's travel ban, when his parents were stuck in their native Syria, unable to be with their sick son, who needed to be in the U.S. for medical treatment that wasn't available there.

He is a U.S. citizen and is now back in the U.S. after living in Syria for 1 1/2 years.

"My favorite thing was being with my mom and dad," Tony said outside the airport Wednesday.

Tony headed back to Syria to rejoin his parents, with the knowledge that without proper care, he could fall ill once again.

Those worries were realized and on Wednesday, Tony was wheeled out of Los Angeles International Airport after a very long trip.

"I'm feeling alright," he said.

"His disease is back as his first time. We don't know why, we don't know what's happened," said his aunt Fadaa Assaf.

While treatment at Children's Hospital is expected to bring Tony back to health for a second time, he's still suffering.

"I just don't like it without my mom and dad," Tony said.

As before, while he is in L.A., his parents are stuck in Syria.

"Other people they go on field trips and stuff like that," Tony said. "But me and my mom and dad, we don't be together much."

Tony's aunt has moved to Bakersfield, and they will shuttle back and forth to Children's Hospital, and this time, he won't be going back to Syria.

His only hope of seeing his parents again is if they can somehow make their way to the U.S.