A 2-year-old Georgia boy’s scheduled kidney transplant was postponed until January 2018 after the donor, his father, was arrested for violating his parole, even though he was out on bail when the surgery was scheduled to be performed.
Anthony Dickerson was willing and able to donate one of his kidneys to his son Anthony Burgess for the scheduled Oct. 3 surgery, but the hospital told the family Dickerson had to be in compliance with his parole for three months before the surgery could be performed, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
Emory University Hospital would not comment on the case because of privacy laws, the AJC reported. According to the child’s mother, Carmellia Burgess, the hospital had previously been supportive of the dad’s donation, and no reason for the change was given.
According to the AJC, the hospital even wrote a letter requesting Dickerson’s release from jail to have preliminary bloodwork done prior to the Oct. 3 surgery.
Dickerson violated his parole by allegedly fleeing from police and possessing a firearm or knife while attempting to commit a felony, but he was released on a $2,600 bond in time for the surgery.
“They’re making this about dad,” Carmellia Burgess told the AJC. “It’s not about dad. It’s about our son.”
Anthony Burgess weighs only 25 pounds and his mother worries he won’t make it another three to four months if the hospital does not change its policy. She told WGCL her son’s body is failing and that he needs bladder surgery right away after spending the first 10 months of his life in neonatal intensive care.
A GoFundMe page started for the family has raised more than $5,000 in four days.
© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.