Albert Jeffries IV, known by most as Alj, is a 13-year-old boy who loves Star Wars, the Panthers and the Tar Heels, and has been fighting heart disease since he was 4 months old. Now, Alj needs a heart transplant to save his life.
He suffers from dilated cardiomyopathy, a heart condition characterized by abnormally weak function of the heart muscle. Alj’s doctor, Scott Buck, said Alj has developed progressive weakness and easy fatiguing with exertion.
“With day-to-day activities like walking down a hallway, he needs to stop to rest,” Buck said. “He’s extremely short of breath and quite weak.”
Buck said Alj’s condition is quite severe, saying he’s listed to receive a heart transplant because he has exhausted all the potential capabilities of medical management of his disorder.
Alj’s only long-term opportunity for survival is a heart transplant, and while at the highest category of severity for his condition, he’s still waiting. His mother, Tina Turner, said Alj is at the top of the transplant list, but waiting for a heart is like gambling.
“It’s a stroke of luck,” Turner said. “It could be tomorrow, it could be six months, or three years. He’s at the top of the list. We’re constantly waiting on their call.”
The seemingly endless wait has proven to be a long journey for Alj and his mother since the DTH last interviewed them in 2002, when Alj was first diagnosed with his heart condition.
“Since then, we’ve had countless amounts of doctor appointments, echoes, EKGs and a cardiac catheterization,” Turner said.
Alj’s condition worsened in 2014 when he went into active heart failure and was admitted into UNC’s pediatric interventional vascular unit where he stayed for 45 days. Alj went home after those 45 days, but Turner said as of last Saturday night he has been readmitted to UNC Hospitals.
