2-year-old denied kidney transplant because father violated probation

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

ATLANTA -- A.J. Burgess was born a month too soon without a working kidney, WGCL-TV reports, and his father Anthony Dickerson is a 110 percent match for an organ donation. But surgeons at Emory Hospital in Atlanta won't perform the operation because Dickerson served time in prison for violating probation.

Burgess, who only weighs 25 pounds at age 2, spent 10 months in a neonatal intensive care unit. Dickerson was tested and proved to be the perfect match to give his son a kidney, WGCL-TV writes.

"He made it his business to say, 'Once I get out, I'm gonna promise to my son that he can get a kidney," A.J.'s mother Carmella said.

As soon as Dickerson was released from prison, he was about to go through the steps to donate his kidney on Oct. 3. However, he returned to jail for violating his parole again for possession of a firearm or knife during the commission of or attempt to commit certain felonies, according to WGCL-TV.

It was at that point everything changed for the family and Carmella said that the hospital needed three to four months before the child's father could donate his kidney.

"The lady said we need your parole information and your probation info. He said 'why?' We need you to be on good behavior for three to four months before you can give your son the kidney. And January 2018 we will think about re-evaluating you basically," Carmella said.

Emory Healthcare issued a statement to WGCL-TV saying in part that organ transplants are designed to ensure success for organ recipients and that it cannot share specific information about this case.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/2-year-old-denied-kidney-transplant-because-father-violated-probation/ar-AAtwVuf?li=BBnbfcL&ocid=edgsp

[malaise]

1. WTF?

Scream!

[Alice11111]

3. +1000 WTF???

Outrageous

[Demonaut]

2. stupid father, stupid hospital...perfect match for death

wtf

[Drahthaardogs]

4. I try to have compassion but if I am reading this correctly

He went out and got a gun and knife to commit a felony???

Seriously? Then he expects the hospital to have him in their care? Don't be a dumbass.

[unblock]

6. Stupid, sure. But to donate a kidney to his child?

Why would you turn down even a serial killer for that?

You don't punish criminals by letting their children die.

[Drahthaardogs]

9. Because you don't ask the hospital staff to have to deal with

A potential murderer? So would you want to share a room with that guy?

Now the family want a Go Fund Me?

I feel sorry for the kid and I hope he finds a different donor but I am not going to fault the hospital for not wanting to deal with this bullshit

[unblock]

11. Please. Him not getting arrested for 3 or 4 months isn't going to prove anything.

He's going in voluntarily to donate a kidney. Not the kind of situation that leads to violence, but if the hospital staff really feels concerned, they have security for that, and I'm sure the donor would agree to whatever the hospital needs to get it done.

Keep in mind that hospitals heal criminals all the time. I was assualted by a patient once when I was an emt. I didn't stop treating him.

[Drahthaardogs]

12. What are you talking about?

He was SUPPOSED to go donate, but went and armed himself to the teeth to harm other people to commit a crime.

He can agree to whatever. You can't trust him.

In addition, the only one who says the child won't live is the lunatic's relative.

There is nothing conclusive that says the child may die. Other donors may be available as well. The hospital did not comment

[unblock]

18. Lol i'm saying if he agrees to whatever security measures they want

You can't trust him when he's strapped to a guerney with an armed guard on him or whatever the hospital deems necessary? security is exactly for dealing with people you can't trust.

As for whether or not the child will die, imminent death is hardly a prerequisite for compassion or treatment. The child's health would clearly be greatly improved with a transplant, and the need has already been established.

Oh well, whatever, let the kid have a life of dialysis, complications, and a shortened life span. It's the kid's fault for not keeping dad on the straight and narrow, right?


Seriously, just strap dad to a guerney if necessary.

[Tribalceltic]

16. Seriously?

The article says a gun or a knife, not both. It further says nothing about murder. Congratulations on your wish for an innocent child to die due to your misinterpreting the facts!

[Drahthaardogs]

23. It says he bought them with intent to commit a felony

So he was planning an assault or something similar with a deadly weapon.

[unblock]

5. Glad to see everyone involved has the child's best interests at heart....

[Takket]

7. i thought in this country we did not give 2 year olds the death penalty due to "sins of the father"

guess i was mistaken

[Leith]

17. Yeah - They Keep Telling Us How Bad North Korea Is Because

They do that sort of thing. Apparently, so does the US. With the moron White House squatter we have, he'll make that an official and permanent part of tRumpDontCare.

[localroger]

8. Evil motherfuckrs gonna evil motherfuck

Yeah, everybody in this little drama is evil except the small child. But the MOST evil are the hospital and authorities who won't let the killer save the life of his own child, because $RULES. I have more respect for actual criminals than I do for bureaucratic lackeys like that who crush human beings with rubber stamps. Fuck those assholes.

[Drahthaardogs]

10. Cause he bought a gun and knife for his collection?

Why should hospital staff have to deal with this bullshit? How do they protect their staff? Other patients? The guy is obviously a psycho and a menace.

[marybourg]

13. I agree with your take on this,

and I' m sure the transplant team will find him a suitable kidney.

[Ms. Toad]

22. Wow. You obviously have NO connection with the reality of transplants.

Rules are not made just for the sake of making rules.

Donating a kidney is potentially a life-threatening endeavor. Screening is extremely thorough, and before you can even be screened you need to meet certain minimum criteria designed to make sure they don't end up killing you (or getting a bad kidney for the recipient). That screening includes being in a save and stable environment during the recovery period so you don't die because you end up in prison with inadequate care, expose to diseases your body can't fight off on top of recovering from major surgery, or need to go back to work too soon because you don't have money to put food on the table unless you are working.

Live donor programs would be abolished if donors start dying in significant numbers and then no one would be able to be the recipient of a kidney unless there were cadaver kidneys available.

It has nothing to do with what the donor has done - but whether it is safe for the donor to donate a kidney (and/or safe for the child to receive it).

[packman]

14. WTF - How damn cruel is this?

What heartless people make these decisions.

[Ms. Toad]

15. there is no such thing as a 110% match,

If they can't even get that basic fact right, I don't trust the rest of the reporting in the article to be accurate without a second source.

That glaring inaccuracy aside, there are many contraindications for living donations. A living donation turns a healthy patient into a sick one - the exact opposite of what medicine is designed to do - so extraordinary precautions are taken to ensure that donating a kidney will not create unnecessary risk for the donor. Winding up in prison shortly after donating would be a pretty significant risk. In addition, they may be insisting on waiting after prison release to ensure he did not contract HIV+ or Hep C in prison. Those don't show up immediately, and are relatively known risks. They would want to ensure he didn't pass either one on to his son by donating before the period during which he would convert from negative to positive passes.

Just a few of the legitimate reasons they may not have permitted an immediate donation - that have everything to do with compassion for both the child and his father.

[LeftyMom]

19. I've been through live donor screening. They go through your history with a fine toothed comb.

Not just your health but they make sure you're not being economically coerced, that you have your own support system and coping skills etc. Since you're having major surgery with no benefit to yourself they want to make absolutely sure you're going to be okay, and the bias is to fail you out as a donor if they're not dead certain that you're an excellent candidate.

I was rejected due to a fairly minor health problem found in the screening process, even though my specialist insisted I'd be fine for surgery with only minor changes in medication. At the time this decision was made it looked likely my family member would die without my liver donation (turns out he survived to get a deceased donor and he's doing great.) *Most* potential live donors are rejected.

I don't know this gentleman's circumstances, but there may have been concerns that he didn't have help or resources for the postsurgical period (ie could he take time off work, would taking time off work further interfere with his probation, could he support himself and his family while recovering from surgery) or if his legal troubles involved a drug problem there might be concerns that postsurgical pain killers would put him at high risk of relapse, or that his lifestyle would put him at unusual risk with only one kidney. And of course incarceration itself is a risk: you can't even donate blood for a good long time after being locked up because the risk of disease in prison is so high.

I can't say. But I'm not surprised somebody whose life was that unstable was rejected as a donor. They fail people out for a lot less. Rather than going to the media to rail at the injustice of it all and rattle the gofundme cup I wish this family was going to the media to find their kid a live donor kidney, the article doesn't even say what blood type he is let alone who to contact at Emory if one wishes to be evaluated as a potential live donor.

[Doreen]

20. Talk about making a child pay for his father's sins.

[LeftyMom]

21. He can still get a kidney from another family member, deceased donor, donor chain,

altruistic donor, etc.

The father was rejected for reasons that are entirely within his control. His child deserves better.