EAST GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — At 16 years old, Sam Heintz is living out his dream of playing baseball, thanks to a special request from his mother during his kidney transplant procedure.
When Heintz was just 5 years old, while on vacation in Florida, he suddenly grew very sick, prompting his mom to take him to the hospital. He was diagnosed with atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome, a condition that was attacking his kidneys and causing them to fail. His mother, Alicia Heintz, was concerned for his health and about how this would impact his ability to play baseball in the future.
"Is this something that is going to hinder him from, you know, being athletic, being able to play sports?" Alicia Heintz recalled.
Heintz was placed on a transplant list and received a kidney match by the time he was 8 years old. However, his mother had an unusual request for the surgeons – to transplant the kidney on the opposite side of his body, as Heintz is a left-handed hitter in baseball.
"I said, oh, that is, kind of dangerous, because he's left-handed, he bats left-handed, so you know, his kidney will be fully exposed when he's batting, and what if he gets hit by a pitch?" Alicia Heintz explained. If a ball were to hit at his right side, the kidney could potentially face major damage and Sam would have complications in the future.
Physician assistant Cristina Brini, a physician assistant at Helen DeVos Children's Hospital, said the request was very unusual, but the surgeons determined the switch was safe during the procedure.
"We felt like, if we could give him what kind of seems like a small change in my world that would have such a large impact, it was worth a shot," Brini said.
Alicia did not know before surgery if the switch would be made but was instead told after his surgery was over.
“I got to watch them tell mom. She was happy he was doing well, but then to know, like this special piece that my kid can continue to do one of the things that he’s been dreaming about for his whole life, you just saw that peace in her face," says Cristina who was there when the news was delivered.
Alicia tells me that he is overall a normal teenager, aside from the medications he needs to take and getting regular check-ups. Now, Heintz is back on the baseball field, doing what he loves most.
"Just being able to come back from such a big surgery, like that, such a big diagnosis, just being able to come back and play just like a normal kid with my friends, it was very special," Heintz said.
Heintz hopes to win a state championship with his East Grand Rapids High School teammates in the coming years.
"We got a pretty good shot these next couple of years," Heintz said.
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