Taevion Norris’ graduation took place in Lurie Children’s Hospital because he was too sick to attend the ceremony. The hospital and staff went the whole nine yards. As “Pomp and Circumstance” played, Norris, dressed in a cap and gown, was wheeled down a hallway crowded with his physicians and nurses to receive his formal diploma from West Leyden High School.
However, after the ceremony, Norris, who has been diagnosed with Duchenne’s Muscular Dystrophy, a neuromuscular illness that causes gradual muscle weakness, is still in the hospital awaiting transplant.
“I just want to get it over with,” the 18-year-old told People.
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It all began in elementary school. Norris had aspirations of playing collegiate basketball with Duke University before turning pro. However, in the spring of sixth grade, his gym teacher called his mother out of concern.
“Taevion’s normally the first one in line, first one running in the gym, first one finishing — but he said, ‘Taevion has started being last,'” his mother, Tainica Norris, 41, of La Grange, Illinois, recounted.
The coach recommended that the single mother take her son to the doctor.
Norris was diagnosed with Duchenne’s muscular dystrophy (DMD). DMD is a hereditary illness, according to MDA, that is characterized by gradual muscular weakness and degeneration because of changes in a protein called dystrophin, which is essential for maintaining the normal function of muscle cells.
Because the illness first affects the proximal muscles (those closest to the body’s core) and then the distal limb muscles (those closest to the extremities), the affected child may have difficulty jumping, running, and walking, and the heart and respiratory muscles may be affected as well.
He was only 12 years old at the time of his diagnosis and couldn’t believe what was happening.
“I thought they were just making stuff up,” Norris said.
His mother, who worked in a daycare, was not aware of the condition. “Everything just changed,” she stated after hearing the explanation.
Before long, her son began to struggle to climb stairs, and during the COVID-19 pandemic, he lost the ability to walk altogether.
Norris, a senior in high school at the time, was continually throwing up. Nevertheless, he told his mother that he didn’t want to miss school, thus he didn’t want to visit the hospital.
The medical head of the ventricular assist device program at Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago, Anna Joong, Norris’ doctor, told People, “His heart failure was pretty significant.” She also mentioned that Norris was “incredibly sick.”
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On May 1, he was added to the heart transplant list.
“He’s an amazing, amazing teenager,” Joong remarked. “He’s so easygoing and is just way more resilient than the rest of us.”
While in the hospital awaiting a new heart, the 18-year-old labored every day to complete his final two months of schoolwork and graduate on schedule.
“He is very determined,” his mother said. “He’s a hard worker, he loves school”
According to Hana Herrick, 43, who attended his graduation as the school services coordinator at Lurie Children’s Hospital, “There were tears everywhere. I was just so proud of him.”
