Young Bengals fan finally gets life-saving heart transplant
By Ashley Kirklen
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CINCINNATI (WLWT) — Just months ago, three-year-old Sammy Jones had tubes running throughout his body and medical objects connected to his heart to make it work properly. Still, he was just a normal fun-loving toddler. Only he was waiting for a healthy heart.
“That’s what he asked for his birthday. We asked him back in March what he wanted for his birthday and he said a new heart,” mom Kortney Sink said.
Sammy was born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, causing the left side of his heart not to work.
“He had his first surgery at a day old, his second surgery at three months old, and his third surgery at three years old last February,” Sink said.
Sammy’s parents thought he’d be good after his third surgery. He even started playing soccer, but then his heart began to fail last fall.
After months spent in the hospital waiting, Sammy’s birthday wish came early on Sunday night.
“I just kicked back and she called me bawling. Happy tears. Yeah, happy tears that they found him a new heart. Just couldn’t believe it. It’s just been you know, we’ve been here six months and waiting,” Sammy’s dad Garland Jones said.
Throughout this time, Cincinnatians picked up on Superman Sammy’s journey through his Facebook page and bonded with him through his love of the Bengals.
“Thank you to the Bengals for an awesome season, because it gave my son something to look forward to,” said Jones.
Now Superman Sammy has something else to look forward to, his whole life with a healthy heart.
“We just hope he can do all he wants to do he wants to play football, basketball, he wants to do all that stuff, and I’m just hoping and praying, he’s able to do all that stuff that he loves to do,” Sink said.
Sammy will turn four April 23. He will have to stay close to the hospital at The Ronald McDonald House, but his parents say it’s a miracle that in just a couple of weeks he’ll finally be free of being confined to the hospital.
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