Five years after heart transplant, Burlington teen set to graduate
Given only days to live as an infant because of an enlarged heart, a Burlington teen is set to graduate high school next month and pursue the dreams both he and his mother have.
Albert Jeffries, known to friends as "Al-J," was born with cardiomyopathy, which weakened his heart. His mother, Tina Turner, recalls how doctors told her when he was 4 months old that he didn't have long to live.
"I pretty much lost it because I didn't want to lose my 4-month-old baby," Turner said later. "Then I picked myself up and said, 'No, he's not going to die. He's not going to die. He's going to live."
Al-J did live, even though he was in and out of hospitals as a child. But he and his mother knew that, someday, he would need a new heart.
"The hardest part is just wondering when I'm going to get my heart," he told WRAL News in 2016 while spending 77 days in UNC Children's Hospital, in Chapel Hill.
The heart arrived with heartbreak. Katelyn Zimmerman, a girl his age, was hit by a car while riding her bike in Florida and died, and her family donated her organs.
A few months after his heart transplant, Al-J met Katelyn's family, and they all wept.
"I thank them and Katelyn for giving me this heart," he said. "It's this second chance, this gift of life."
Al-J has taken full advantage of his second chance. He got a driver's license and his own car and, now 18, will graduate on June 4 from Cummings High School.
"The day that he walks across that stage, I'm probably just going to lose it," Turner said recently. "I just can't believe, all of these years when they counted him out."
Al-J credits his mother for his survival.
"She's always been there for me, and she's gone through it all by my side," he said.
He's had no complications since his transplant, and his body has embraced the new heart. But he must take anti-rejection medication, which causes him to stutter, for the rest of his life.
"We're hopeful this heart is going to last him forever," Turner said. "I really hope that he excels and has kids in the future, gets married and just has a normal life."
Al-J plans to enroll at Guilford Technical Community College and then transfer to North Carolina State University. He's already made his own video game and plans to make a career of designing more games.
