Lafayette student’s heart transplant inspires blood drive

By Jazmine Knight

Lafayette High School’s band is honoring one member in a special way this week.

On Tuesday, Oct. 8, Lafayette will be hosting a blood drive from 2-6 p.m. The blood drive is in honor of Jaymeson Burns, a student born with a rare birth defect. He received a heart transplant back in February.

“He obviously needs a lot of transfusions. That’s his third open heart,” said his mother, Danielle Burns.

For Jaymeson, better known as Jay, he said even though the process has been scary, it’s also kind of exciting knowing he would get better with a new heart.

“It was so bad that I knew if I didn’t have another one, it wasn’t going to end well,” Jay said.

However, that isn’t going to stop him from accomplishing his dreams.

“I’m able to do all this stuff and be able to play volleyball this year. I’m going to be doing junior drum major this year for Lafayette,” he said. “I’m doing a whole bunch more stuff I usually couldn’t do before this.”

It all started with a heart defect when Jay was born called transposition of the great vessels. Essentially, Jay’s heart worked backward.

“The small muscle of your heart is the right side. It’s meant to just do your lungs and back. And his was doing his whole body and back,” Danielle said.

After a while, his heart got overworked leading to a heart catheterization on July 19, 2023. Unfortunately, Jay coded and had to have CPR.

“And so then when they realized it was much worse than they thought,” said Danielle.

After about 36 days in the ICU, Jay came home with a PICC line with continuous heart medication up until his transplant.

“He had been on the transplant list longer than that. But we got the call on Valentine’s Day,” said Danielle.

As a parent, Danielle said it was horrible seeing her child endure that much pain.

“Just even walking to the bathroom, he would be soaked in sweat,” she said. “And now he’s, like, running on the field for like, the first time ever.”

Jay’s band teacher, Mark Knorr, said Jay is a dedicated student with a real love and passion for marching band.

“We actually let him march in the Apple Blossom Parade as an eighth grader. So that was very special for him because we frankly didn’t know if he’d be around for the next one,” said Knorr.

Knorr learned about Jay’s story on day one, so he’s always made it a point to meet Jay’s needs and adapt when necessary.

As a percussionist, Jay was very limited on what he could do prior to his transplant.

“He played up front instead of being at a marching band field with us,” said Knorr.

Once he was feeling better, Knorr said the school welcomed him with open arms.

“They were very thankful to God and everybody that worked to deliver him back,” he said.

When it comes to the blood drive, Burns said he was expecting it, but he didn’t expect this much. He describes the day he returned back to school after receiving his transplant. He said he couldn’t touch anyone for three months after the surgery.

“It was probably the hardest thing I to ever do. Probably because you want to go up to your friends and run up to them, hug them and everything but you couldn’t,” he said.

On his first day back, his bandmates greeted him with an orchestra of music, signs and smiles.

“A lot of it was funny, but it was really different. It was different than anything I’ve ever experienced,” said Jay.

Jay said his friends still have tons of questions, which he doesn’t mind answering. He said while it’s not a hard topic for him, he understands that it can be for other people. Danielle said the band also held a big fundraiser for Jay when he was in the ICU.

“So they brought the kids, even his friends, they were all sending stuff down to him, making videos, he was able to FaceTime. So that helped a lot,” she said.

Lafayette also hosted a football night in support of him called “Play for Jay.”

“Everyone’s been awesome,” said Danielle.

Knorr said there hasn’t been a blood drive at Lafayette in a few years so it’s important to get more people to donate, especially the kids.

Jay and Danielle Burns hope to see the community at Lafayette’s blood drive on Tuesday. Not only does donating blood save lives, but you never know who might need it, according to Jay.

“It’s not as bad as you think it is. If you’re scared of needles, it’s fine, just try,” said Jay.

The blood drive will take place in the practice gym at Lafayette from 2-6 p.m. Guests can enter through door 6. Members of the public can arrive anytime after 2:45 p.m. to allow time for students to participate. To schedule an appointment, visit savealifenow.org/group, and enter Group Code: P5.