By Lottie Elizabeth Johnson
Most contestants who go on “America’s Got Talent” have the same aspiration: They want to achieve stardom.
For many of the acts on the competition show — whether it’s singing or dancing or ventriloquism or magic — the “AGT” audition is a major stepping stone on the path to success and fame. Read the full story in Yahoo Entertainment.
By Lynn Nichols
Joseph (Joe Joe) Sanchez-Munoz loves to dance, especially to Karol G and Bruno Mars. After his recent heart transplant at age 18, he asked his social worker if he could borrow the hospital’s helicopter to go to a Bruno Mars concert. He’s quirky and funny. And his doctors, nurses, and providers comment on his big smile, which is almost always spread across his face.
“No matter what life throws at him, he’s smiling,” says mom Elena Munoz. Read the full story from Stanford Medicine Children’s Health.
LOS ANGELES (KABC) — A father is getting back to doing what he loves after undergoing a rare triple-organ transplant at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.
Valance Sams Sr. underwent the 20-hours surgery for a new heart, liver and kidney this past spring, according to the hospital. Check out the full story from ABC 7 Los Angeles.
By Sylvester Brown Jr.
Imagine having a four-year-old son who seemed healthy and normal. Suddenly, your child has trouble keeping food down and then loses his appetite completely. You take him to the hospital, and he’s diagnosed with a bowel obstruction. You then find out it’s a misdiagnosis; your child’s heart is failing, and he’s been placed on the donor list for an immediate heart transplant.
“The news hit us like a ton of bricks,” said Makiyah Mosley-Flye. She and her husband, Antonio, live in Cape Girardeau, Mo. They have two children: 12-year-old daughter, Adrianna and Kyndric who’s now 8-years-old. Read the full story in The St. Louis American.
By Karen Jordan
CHICAGO (WLS) — It’s the first day of medical school for Melanie Romo, a 12-year old girl shadowing a nurse at Lurie Children’s Hospital.
First up for Melanie was evaluating Bella, who volunteered to act as a patient with gall stones.
This is the experience Melanie was hoping for. She was once a patient at Lurie, diagnosed two years ago with chronic kidney disease and in need of a transplant. Read and watch the full story from ABC 7 Chicago.
By Chloe Courtney Bohl
Observant commuters may have noticed an ad with an unusual call to action on the T this month. The orange posters feature a photo of a smiling couple and read, “My wife, Deb, needs a new kidney.” A Lexington man, Paul Savuto, has turned to the patrons of the MBTA in his quest to find an organ donor who can save his wife’s life.
Read the full story in Boston.com.
By Radina Gigova and Svitlana Vlasova, CNN
Amid the raging war and constant threat of Russian missiles, a successful heart transplant has been performed on a 6-year-old girl in Kyiv, authorities with the Heart Institute of Ukraine’s Ministry of Health announced on Monday.
The three-hour operation, which took place on Sunday evening, gave the girl the heart of a 4-year-old boy, whom doctors had declared brain dead after suffering an aneurysm. Read the full story on CNN.
By Hanna Webster
Josh Wilder never expected to spend weeks surviving in the wild on national television.
He was born with Prune Belly syndrome, a rare genetic condition in which some internal organs and the abdominal muscles don’t fully develop. He frequented Pittsburgh doctor’s offices and hospitals throughout his childhood and was put on a strict, low-fat diet of healthy fruits and vegetables (a kid’s favorite) to protect his kidneys.
Read more in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
By Ellen Kenny
One young woman got a second chance at life following a heart transplant – and then a chance to be immortalised when she gave her old heart to a museum.
In 2006, Jennifer Sutton was diagnosed with restrictive cardiomyopathy, a disease that stiffens some of the heart’s chambers, preventing blood from pumping around the body. Read the full article in Newstalk.
By Doug Evans
FAYETTE COUNTY, Ga. – FOX 5 brought together two local men whose lives were changed forever by a kidney transplant back in February. FOX 5 first reported on McIntosh High School athletic director Leon Hammond’s need for a donated kidney last November and U.S. Secret Service agent Alan Reeves who gave him that gift of life. It’s now three months since the transplant surgery. Read or watch the full story from Fox 5 Atlanta.