A mom's appeal

By Angie Thompson, Senior Reporter

TIFTON — An Irwin County mother is asking the public for donations and planning fundraisers so that her son can receive the heart he needs to survive.

Ruthie Lumpkin, Leantwon Harrell’s mother, said her 22-year-old son won’t survive without a heart transplant that will cost $343,000. It will take $5,000 just to get his name on the transplant waiting list.

“His condition has worsened,” Lumpkin said. “He is more limited as to what he can do and he can barely do anything anymore.”

Harrell, a 2007 GED graduate who was pursing a degree in technology at East Central Technical College and working 12-hour shifts at Southern Vernier in Fitzgerald, didn’t feel well one day in April 2008. He was at work when he began having shortness of breath and other pain, his mother said.

“He’s been treated all of his life for chronic asthma,” Lumpkin said. “We thought it was that.”

Lumpkin took Harrell to a doctor who gave him a breathing treatment for the asthma. Harrell returned to work two days later but the problems persisted. He was then taken to a local hospital and was treated there for asthma and allergies. Because his breathing was so heavy, he was admitted for observation.

“He had a heart attack and was transported to Tift Regional Medical Center,” Lumpkin said. “He was diagnosed there with heart disease and congestive heart failure.”

Lumpkin said doctors told her that any one of thousands of viral infections could have caused her son’s heart to fail.

Lumpkin said physicians who treated him at TRMC told the family that Harrell’s heart was in such poor condition that he was sent to the Emory Heart Center. Now, Lumpkin takes Harrell to the Atlanta center for treatment at least twice each month and some months up to four times.

Lumpkin said people have been supportive with prayers and donations since articles have been printed in local newspapers.

“I’ve had calls for prayer and some have donated,” Lumpkin said. “The fact that finances are keeping him from having the transplant is really upsetting to some people.”

A Healthy Hearts Basketball Tournament is set for May 16 at the Ocilla Recreational Gym. A raffle was held recently for a “Healthy Hearts” basket full of information and items related to keeping a healthy heart. The basket included a bottle of aspirin and a blood pressure monitor. A yard sale has also been held.

“We are asking for your help with this costly procedure. We know that everything is in God’s hands and we’re trusting that God is making a way for Leantwon to have the surgery in order that he may live to see his newborn son grow up,” Lumpkin said.

To make donations, go to www.gatransplant.org and click on Fundraising Program, then click Individual Fundraising. In the search by name box, type in L Harrell and on the next page, you will see the name Antwon Harrell. You can click on that link and follow the prompts. Lumpkin said that those who write checks payable to the fund should note on them Harrell’s name so that they go directly to his transplant account.

Anyone with questions can contact Lumpkin at 229-325-8897.

To contact senior reporter Angie Thompson, call 382-4321.

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