GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — A Georgia mother whose toddler has been waiting for a kidney transplant his whole life was given a car on Tuesday — hours before a kidney donor was found.
Carmellia Burgess of Gwinnett County brought her son home from Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta on Nov. 8, where he’d been since Oct. 29.
The family expected to wait for the news that his father, Anthony Dickerson, would be permitted to donate a kidney after a battle with the transplant team over his criminal history.
But his mother didn’t have a car to get AJ to his hemodialysis appointments three times a week, she posted on Facebook.
AJ battled a potentially deadly infection, contracted pneumonia, had surgery to implant a new port for his dialysis treatments and received blood transfusions before he was released from the hospital, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution previously reported.
[ >> Need something to lift your spirits? Read more uplifting news ]
That trouble ended Tuesday, when actor Tyler Perry gave Burgess a new car.
The family later learned a deceased donor kidney will be given to AJ on Wednesday, attorney Mawuli Davis said.
[ >> Read more trending news ]
“Father and mother are there excited and are being supported by Mr. Dickerson’s mentor, David Manuel, and Pastor Derrick Rice from Sankofa Church.