It wasn’t the stage at West Leyden High School, but the moment was just as powerful, maybe even more so. Eighteen-year-old Taevion Norris, clad in a cap and gown, was wheeled down a hospital hallway lined with cheering doctors and nurses as “Pomp and Circumstance” filled the air. He had just graduated, not just from high school, but from a journey full of obstacles most teenagers can’t imagine.
“There were tears everywhere,” said Hana Herrick, 43, school services coordinator at Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago. “I was just so proud of him.”
Taevion is currently in the hospital waiting for a heart transplant. But that hasn’t stopped the determined teen from achieving his dreams, starting with graduation. He powered through his last two months of coursework from his hospital room, driven by the same resolve he’s had since he was a kid dreaming of playing basketball at Duke.
“It was a dream,” Taevion says now.
But when he was in sixth grade, something shifted. “Taevion’s normally the first one in line, first one running in gym, first one finishing,” his mom, Tainica Norris, recalls a concerned gym teacher telling her. “But he said, ‘Taevion has started being last.’”
The single mom took her son to the doctor. That’s when everything changed.
Taevion was diagnosed with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, a rare neuromuscular condition that progressively weakens muscles, including the heart. He was just 12. “I thought they were just making stuff up,” he says.
His mom, who worked at a daycare, had never heard of the condition. “Everything just changed,” she remembers.
Soon, Taevion struggled with stairs. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he stopped being able to walk altogether. In March of this year, he began throwing up constantly. Even then, he told his mom he didn’t want to go to the hospital, he didn’t want to miss school.
When he was finally admitted, doctors realized his heart failure was severe. “His heart failure was pretty significant,” says Dr. Anna Joong, medical director of the ventricular assist device program at Lurie Children’s. “He was incredibly sick.”
On May 1, he was placed on the transplant list.
But even through the pain and fatigue, Taevion showed up every day, to finish his assignments, attend virtual classes, and complete his senior year. “He’s very determined,” says his mom. “He’s a hard worker. He loves school.”
“He’s an amazing, amazing teenager,” adds Dr. Joong. “He’s so easygoing and is just way more resilient than the rest of us.”
On May 21, just weeks after being added to the transplant list, the hospital organized a surprise graduation ceremony for him. His face lit up as he rolled through the hallway, surrounded by people who had become like family. And with that, Taevion officially became a graduate.
His advice to other kids waiting for a new heart? “Don’t give up.”
Now, his mom is hoping to raise money for a wheelchair-accessible vehicle to help get Taevion to future doctor appointments and physical therapy. She’s started a GoFundMe to help give him that independence.
As for what’s next? Taevion, true to form, is looking ahead.
“I just want to get it over with,” he says about the transplant. And then? Maybe he’ll find a new dream. Because if there’s one thing this young man has proven, it’s that he knows how to finish strong.
- From Unwanted to Unstoppable: Chewy the Shih Tzu Finds His Forever Family in a Senior Living Center - September 18, 2025
- Teen Who Started Reading Program During Pandemic Still Brings Joy to Special Needs Kids Five Years Later - September 18, 2025
- Uber Ride Turns Into a Life-Changing Friendship That’s Still Going Strong Seven Years Later - September 18, 2025
