Anthony Stokes, a 15-year-old boy who has been denied a heart transplant by an Atlanta hospital, supposedly because of "noncompliance," has gained new support from the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, according to CBS Atlanta.
Controversy has revolved around Anthony's case because Children's Healthcare of Atlanta has been vague about the reasons he's not eligible for a transplant. Now the SCLC wants to know why.
"Every day is up and down. He's OK one minute, the next minute he's not," said Stokes' mother, Melencia Hamilton.
She said being denied from the transplant list only made it worse.
"Doctor came in and said he's not a candidate. He's not a candidate for a heart transplant," said Hamilton …
"He's been given a death sentence because of a broad and vague excuse of noncompliance. There was nothing specific in that decision. Just noncompliance," said Christine Young Brown with the SCLC …
Children's Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston couldn't talk about a specific patient's case or what criteria they look for transplants, but hospital spokeswoman Patty Gregory did release this statement:
"The well-being of our patients is always our first priority. We are continuing to work with this family and looking at all options regarding this patient's healthcare. We follow very specific criteria in determining eligibility for a transplant of any kind."
Read more at CBS Atlanta.
Jozen Cummings is the author and creator of the popular relationship blog Until I Get Married, which is currently in development for a television series with Warner Bros. He also hosts a weekly podcast with WNYC about Empire called Empire Afterparty, is a contributor at VerySmartBrothas.com and works at Twitter as an editorial curator. Follow him on Twitter.