emotional welcome yesterday.

Family and friends were waiting for Mr. Hollis as he arrived on the 1.15 p.m.

flight from Baltimore.

And he was delighted to be home for the first time this year after undergoing his transplant at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore.

Plumber Mr. Hollis, 42, of Burnt House Hill, Warwick, accompanied by his wife Carol, said: "I am very excited to be home. I am delighted to be with my family and friends. America is a very stressful place and Bermuda is so relaxing. I feel fine. Everything went well but I must take things easy now.'' Mrs. Hollis said: "He is not out of the woods yet. There is still a long way to go.'' His delighted mother, Mrs. Vianthee Hollis burst into tears of happiness when she saw her son emerging from the airport. She rushed to embrace him. She said: "He looks just fine but that is the medication. It lifts him up but at other times he is not so good.

"It is going to be a long process but I am just glad to see him back in Bermuda. I have been so excited knowing that he was coming home. The last time I saw him was at the hospital in December a month after he went out there.

"It has been a stressful time. I do not know how we raised the money but the Lord always seemed to provide for us.'' Mr. Hollis's medication alone costs some $1,500 a month. The Wayne Hollis Fund, organised by the Brethren Gospel Hall in Crawl, raised $17,000 but that is now exhausted.

His visit to Bermuda may only be for a week depending on how he feels, but he is hoping to return permanently by the end of the year.

His mother said: "Even if he gets something as small as an ant bite he must go straight back to the hospital.'' Doctors said Mr. Hollis would suffer no ill effects from flying home but they were concerned about how the Bermudian environment would affect him.

HOME AT LAST -- Heart transplant patient Mr. Wayne Hollis hugs his tearful mother Mrs. Vianthee Hollis at the Civil Air Terminal yesterday.