{"id":9019,"date":"2022-07-26T15:45:32","date_gmt":"2022-07-26T19:45:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gatransplant.org\/?p=9019"},"modified":"2022-07-26T16:03:17","modified_gmt":"2022-07-26T20:03:17","slug":"becoming-a-warrior-mykal-lewiss-story-of-growing-up-with-a-heart-transplant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gatransplant.blackbaudwp.com\/vi\/becoming-a-warrior-mykal-lewiss-story-of-growing-up-with-a-heart-transplant\/","title":{"rendered":"Becoming a Warrior: Mykal Lewis’s Story of Growing Up With a Heart Transplant"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Mykal Lewis may have only been two-months old when he had his heart transplant, but he\u2019s always felt the impact of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy mother was very overprotective. I couldn\u2019t really play any sports. I remember taking very nasty medication, going to doctor\u2019s appointments, getting lab work,\u201d Mykal said. \u201cThat\u2019s kind of just been my life. In the hospital.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite his health problems, Mykal had plans and dreams, which included going to college. When the question of how to offset the cost of tuition came up, Mykal\u2019s transplant social worker had a suggestion: Georgia Transplant Foundation\u2019s Academic Scholarship Program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBefore I started going to school my transplant team at Children\u2019s Healthcare of Atlanta told me to look into it to see if [GTF] could help with funds towards school,\u201d Mykal said. \u201cI wasn\u2019t nervous, except the normal fear of them possibly saying no.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mykal\u2019s work paid off, GTF approved his application and he received the Calkins scholarship. Mykal is now a junior at Kennesaw State University studying Integrated Health Science. Once he graduates, travel is at the top of his priority list.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHonestly, my longterm dream is to be a professional chef. I want to work on a cruise ship or for someone famous and travel internationally. Either a travel chef or a travel nurse,\u201d Mykal said. \u201cFrance, Italy, Spain, California, wherever Gordan Ramsey is.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mykal has come a long way. A childhood and adolescence full of health concerns and doctor’s visits left an impact, and Mykal has to remind himself of his strength..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGrowing up it kind of took a mental toll on me, but you just step back and realize you\u2019re still here after everything you\u2019ve been through,\u201d Mykal said. \u201cIt hurts mentally, but at the same time it\u2019s empowering.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of Mykal\u2019s most powerful experiences with GTF has been meeting the endowers of his scholarship, the Calkins, who tragically lost their son to the same illness Mykal is fighting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Melanie Calkins, Mykal Lewis, and Brian Calkins<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI remember their son\u2019s name was Michael too,\u201d Mykal said. \u201cMeeting them face to face, thanking them for the opportunity, and thanking them for the support really bonded us. It made me feel special. It made me feel honored. I was just entirely grateful to be in their presence.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Knowing that the Calkins lost a child is painful for Mykal, but he also knows that their shared experiences makes the connection incredibly meaningful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHearing their story about their son made me emotional, but I told them about my story and about what I\u2019ve been through,\u201d Mykal said. \u201cBonding with them really empowered me and made me feel thankful to be here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although he works to stay positive and resilient, Mykal doesn\u2019t always feel as strong as people say he is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAll the time I hear from people [I\u2019ve told] what I\u2019ve been through, \u2018I can\u2019t believe you\u2019re still smiling\u2019, \u2018I can\u2019t believe how positive you are\u2019, \u2018you\u2019re the strongest person I\u2019ve ever known\u2019,\u201d Mykal said. \u201cSometimes, if I\u2019m being real, I can’t believe it. Sometimes I realize: wow, they\u2019re right.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mykal has had more than his fair share of challenges in life, but he firmly believes that he wouldn\u2019t be given these obstacles if he couldn\u2019t overcome them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen you ask the higher power for a stepping stone he\u2019s not going to just give it to you. He\u2019s gonna make you work for it,\u201d Mykal said. \u201cHe says he gives his toughest battles to his strongest soldiers, so I\u2019m definitely a warrior.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Georgia Transplant Foundation offers academic scholarships annually to students under the age of 22 who are transplant recipients, dependents of a transplant recipient, parents or siblings of a transplant recipient, or living donors. Applications are due May 1st. Visit gatransplant.org\/our-programs\/education-community-programs\/academic-scholarships<\/a> for more information!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mykal Lewis may have only been two-months old when he had his heart transplant, but he\u2019s always felt the impact of it. \u201cMy mother was very overprotective. I couldn\u2019t really…<\/p>","protected":false},"author":57,"featured_media":9020,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[51],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9019","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gatransplant.blackbaudwp.com\/vi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9019","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gatransplant.blackbaudwp.com\/vi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gatransplant.blackbaudwp.com\/vi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gatransplant.blackbaudwp.com\/vi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/57"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gatransplant.blackbaudwp.com\/vi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9019"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/gatransplant.blackbaudwp.com\/vi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9019\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9029,"href":"https:\/\/gatransplant.blackbaudwp.com\/vi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9019\/revisions\/9029"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gatransplant.blackbaudwp.com\/vi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9020"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gatransplant.blackbaudwp.com\/vi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9019"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gatransplant.blackbaudwp.com\/vi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9019"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gatransplant.blackbaudwp.com\/vi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9019"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}