Mason Martin

Injured Karns City Area Jr./Sr. High School quarterback Mason Martin has returned to Mercy Hospital in Pittsburgh as of Thursday, Dec. 7, and is preparing to continue rehabilitation.

Denny Martin, Mason’s father, shared on Facebook that his son was “more awake and alert” since receiving a new shunt in his brain Nov. 30.

Last month, Mason was moved from Mercy Hospital — where he had begun rehabilitation from cranial flap surgery — back to UPMC Presbyterian Hospital following a case of meningitis.

After waiting out the infection, Mason’s shunt replacement surgery was successfully completed, and he spent the end of the month “recovering and resting comfortably” ahead of a return to rehabilitation at Mercy Hospital," his father wrote in a previous post.

“I feel he is more ready now than he was three weeks ago,” Denny wrote Thursday, “and I’m excited to see his progress.”

Mason has been recovering from injuries he suffered at a football game Sept. 1. He collapsed during the third quarter of Karns City’s game against Redbank Valley.

The Karns City senior was diagnosed with a brain bleed and collapsed lung after being airlifted to UPMC.

“That place has been my home for the last three months,” Denny wrote Thursday, “and everyone there has felt like family.”

On Oct. 15, just five days before Mason’s cranial flap surgery at UPMC, his mother, Stacy, died following a 10-year battle with breast cancer.

In his update Thursday, Denny thanked the staff at UPMC for its support and “love” throughout his time at the hospital.

“From the lady at the information desk that wept when she found out Stacy passed,” he wrote, “to the cleaning lady whom I never met (that pulled) me aside in the hallway to tell me she is praying for me and my son.”

Denny also thanked the “sweet ladies in the cafeteria” for always taking good care of him, as well as the hospital’s patient relations department — which he said helped him “in a huge way.”

“Just about every day a different person would ask about Mason and let me know they’re praying for him,” he wrote.

While he was happy to be leaving UPMC and “beginning the next chapter,” Denny said he would miss it.

“From here on out I’m praying for nothing but positive progress updates,” he wrote. “As always thanks for all the support.”