2-Year-Old Denied Kidney Transplant By Father Due to Probation Violation

According to 10News WTSP, Anthony Dickerson and Carmella Burgess’ son A.J. was born without kidneys, and although his father is a perfect match and is willing to do a kidney transplant, a prior incident with the law prevents him for being able to help.

On October 3, 2017, Dickerson planned on giving his son one of his kidneys, but he was arrested before then for violating his probation, and was charged with gun possession in September.

Following Dickerson’s arrest, a letter was sent from Emory Hospital to Gwinnett County Jail asking if he could be escorted from the correctional facility to the hospital so that he could have a pre-operative appointment on September 29 and they can move forward with the surgery.

WTSP says that after he was released, the hospital demanded evidence of compliance from his parole officer and stated that it would “re-evaluate Mr. Dickerson in January 2018 after receipt of his completed documentation.”

“That’s all I ever wanted — was a son,” Dickerson said. “And I finally got him, and he’s in this situation. What do he got to do with the mistakes I made? Nothing,”

A.J. suffered a stroke two months ago, and needs constant care. He requires many doctor visits, and his only option now is to be placed on the waiting list.

“He’s only two,” Carmellia said. “He don’t deserve this. We’ve been waiting so long for this. Two steps closer to giving him a kidney and we got shut down, basically. It’s about my son. He’s been through a lot. It’s like we’ve been waiting on this, and Dad making a mistake shouldn’t affect what he wants to do with our son.”

Emory Hospital claims that the guidelines in place for organ transplants were created to “maximize the chance of success for organ recipients and minimize the risk for living donors.”