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Atlanta teen denied new heart gets transplant after all

ATLANTA - A 15-year-old Atlanta boy received a new heart on Tuesday evening, just 10 days after his family complained he was unfairly rejected for a transplant because of past failure to take medicine and show up for doctors' appointments, local media reported.Anthony Stokes, who has a weakened, enlarged heart that cannot pump blood efficiently, could have less than six months to live without

ATLANTA - A 15-year-old Atlanta boy received a new heart on Tuesday evening, just 10 days after his family complained he was unfairly rejected for a transplant because of past failure to take medicine and show up for doctors' appointments, local media reported.

Anthony Stokes, who has a weakened, enlarged heart that cannot pump blood efficiently, could have less than six months to live without a transplant, his family said last week. A few days later, the hospital reversed course and added him to its waiting list.

Stokes received a heart transplant Tuesday, a family spokesman told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was in the intensive care unit of Children's Healthcare of Atlanta Wednesday, the hospital said.

Citing patient privacy, the hospital would not release further details of the case but said it has performed 10 heart transplants so far this year, three in the past week.