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Two years ago, heart patient Anthony Stokes was kept of a heart transplant list because of his police record. At 15, when admitted to an Atlanta hospital with shortness of breath and chest pains, Stokes was wearing an ankle monitor as he was under house arrest for a fight.

He was diagnosed with an enlarged heart and told he needed a transplant but Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta refused to put him on a transplant list because of a history of “noncompliance.” Without a new heart, doctors told Stokes he had 6-9 months to live.

His mother, Melencia Hamilton, protested the decision, because her son had no medical history and had never been ill before and therefore could not be considered “noncompliant.” After a firestorm of protest, the hospital reversed its decision and Stokes successfully received a heart transplant.

Unfortunately, Stokes’ story does not have a happy ending. He was killed in a police chase after being suspected in a failed home invasion robbery in Roswell, Georgia, an Atlanta suburb.

AJC.com reports:

A troubled teenager who received a controversial heart transplant less than two years ago died Tuesday after he lost control of his car during a high-speed chase with Roswell police.

Anthony Stokes, 17, of Decatur, was also a suspect in a failed burglary and a carjacking, which police believe were linked to the fatal crash of the black Honda Accord on Ga 9, Officer Lisa Holland said.

Stokes made international news in August 2013 after the media reported that Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston had not put him on a transplant list. The hospital ruled he was a bad candidate for the organ because of his background that suggested he would be “uncompliant” in treatment and had brushes with the law.

His mother, Melencia Hamilton, then told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that hospital officials stereotyped her son, who wore a court-ordered monitoring device, as a troubled teen.

Teenager Refused Heart Because Of Record Dies In Police Chase  was originally published on blackamericaweb.com

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