Greg Olsen's son heads home after successful heart transplant surgery
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The son of former NFL veteran tight end Greg Olsen is finally headed home after successfully undergoing heart transplant surgery.
The former Carolina Panthers star shared a heartwarming video on social media Wednesday of his son TJ. ringing the bell at Levine Children’s Hospital in Charlotte, N.C., just weeks after doctors said he was in “severe heart failure.”
“Since the day TJ was admitted into the ICU we talked about the day we could ‘ring the bell. Today was that day! We are finally whole again and we couldn’t be more thankful,” his message read.
“Thank you all for the amazing support and prayers!”
Levine Children’s Hospital shared its own message, adding that he was the second patient to ever beat its new “Panthers Keep Pounding Drum.”
“After a successful heart transplant, today TJ went home! TJ was also the second patient to beat our brand new @Panthers Keep Pounding drum, reserved for all our patients who have stayed at our hospital and are on their way home! Congratulations TJ, we’re so proud of you!”
TJ was born in October 2012 with a rare congenital heart condition known as hypoplastic left heart syndrome. He has undergone several open-heart surgeries over the past couple of years before being added to the transplant list last month.
“The reason we shared TJ’s story is not to make it about TJ. The reason we shared TJ’s story now for almost nine years since the day he was born when he underwent his first open-heart surgery was to shed light on what this looks like,” Olsen told Fox News in an interview this month. “That’s why we do it, to raise awareness. To make people know that these kids are out there and they’re struggling and they need our help.”
Olsen shared his son’s positive outlook through the whole process in a separate post on Instagram.
“TJ’s positive attitude and selflessness throughout has been an inspiration to us all,” he wrote. “Never did he feel sorry for himself or play the victim. All he did was talk about what the future held and the things he looked forward to doing.”
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