It’s a beautiful sight to see: a 15-year-old dancing from his hospital bed, living life to the fullest. And the video was taken only six days after the young man had lifesaving open-heart surgery.
According to CNN, Amari Hall, who hails from Capitol Heights, Md., was born with a heart defect that required him to have a heart transplant. Despite still being hooked up to several tubes and cords post-op, he surprised his family by jamming to some music, right from his bed.
“All his life, he has been a fighter,” his mom, Juaquinna Hall, told the network. “He remained positive throughout it all.”
Juaquinna Hall recalled how Amari was born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, a congenital heart defect. By age 2, Amari had already had three corrective heart surgeries. For about 13 years, those surgeries served him well, until the end of last year, when a cardiologist confirmed that Amari’s repaired heart was starting to fail.
By December of last year, Amari had been admitted to the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore, where he awaited his transplant, missing his friends, missing going to school and missing his high school basketball team—something that saddened the LeBron James fan.
In March, doctors told the family that they had found a heart, but another blow was dealt when, upon further examination, the doctors ruled that it wasn’t a match.
However, the very next day, doctors found a match.
“[I said,] ‘Please don’t tell my son,’” his mom said. “I was afraid that it wouldn’t happen.”
However, about 24 hours later, Amari was wheeled into the operating room to get the surgery he needed, and within a week, he had bounced back to his “cheery self,” according to his aunt Charawn Hunter.
“We put the music on and he started dancing,” Hunter said.
In the background of video taken of his dancing, his family can be heard clapping and cheering, “Get ’em,” and even the nurses overseeing his care join in.
His aunt posted the video to Facebook, and from there, the story took off.
Hunter told CNN that she wanted to raise awareness about how important organ donation is, especially in the African-American community.
“Organ donation is so important,” Hunter said. “I think that a lot of people are scared of organ donation.”
As for Amari, he was released from the hospital in mid-May, and doctors are hopeful that he can go back to school in the fall.
Happy healing, Amari! Keep dancing!
Read more at CNN.