In 2011, Anthony Stokes was denied a heart transplant due to his run-in with the law. Due to insistent public demand, he was granted the transplant in August 2013. But where is Stokes today?
Anthony Stokes was denied a heart transplant as a teenager due to his criminal history. The hospital performed the operation due to the campaign of his friends and family. By 2015, Stokes died trying to run away from the police.
The Failing Heart of Anthony Stokes
In 2011, a teenager in Atlanta, Georgia, received national attention after doctors turned down his family’s request for a heart transplant. Anthony Stokes was 15 at the time and needed to replace his failing heart. He had a dilated cardiomyopathy, a disease of the heart muscle that often leads to heart failure. Getting a transplant is his only survival option. He got his diagnosis at the Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta while he was wearing an ankle monitor. At the time, he was under house arrest for getting into a fight.
The doctors explained that because Stokes had a history of noncompliance, they did not think he would show up for follow-up appointments or take his medications.
Anthony suffers from dilated cardiomyopathy, in which the heart’s main pumping chamber, the left ventricle, fails to pump enough blood. The condition is generally treated with medications or devices such as pacemakers before a transplant is considered. A heart transplant procedure requires strict adherence to a medicinal regimen and careful monitoring to prevent the body from rejecting the new heart.
Journal Constitution
Stokes’ mother accused the doctors of unreasonably punishing her son for his tainted past. The hospital then reversed its decision of denying Stokes a spot on the transplant list due to insistent public demand.
He’s a young boy. He’s going to make mistakes, but I still think he deserves a second chance.
Melencia Hamilton, Anthony Stokes’ Mother
(Source: NBC News)
What Happened to Anthony Stokes?
In 2017, Stokes crashed a stolen car while being pursued by the police in Roswell, Georgia. First responders were able to get him out of the car, but he died in the hospital later on.
According to Lisa Holland, the spokeswoman of the Roswell Police Department, Stokes was linked to a home break-in right before the crash occurred. An 81-year-old woman reported to authorities that an unidentified man wearing a mask broke into her house and fired gunshots at her.
She was an 81 years old inside the house and he surprised her and I think she surprised him too because he shot at her. We haven’t really connected that Stokes was the person who did the burglary. He may have been running from something else.
Lisa Holland, Spokesperson Roswell Police Department
It was later confirmed that Stokes was the burglar. He then sped off in a black car, trying to evade the police who responded to the call. The police then spotted the vehicle and ran the plates, only to find out it was stolen. A couple of miles down the road, the car lost control, hit a pedestrian, and crashed. The pedestrian was transported to the hospital for her injuries.
He lost control and there was a long set of skid marks.
Lisa Holland, Spokesperson Roswell Police Department
(Source: Washington Post)