Inside Duke Medicine
Media Spotlight: News & Observer features two heart transplant patients
posted December 9th, 2010
Photo By Takaaki Iwabu Josh Winstead, 17, of Raleigh, left, and DeAsia Washington, 8, of Farmville, visit the pediatric cardiac unit at Duke Hospital before leaving Wednesday. Each got a new heart and a new chance at life.
By Anne Blythe - Staff Writer, The News & Observer
DURHAM -- He's an outgoing chatterbox.
She's coy and sparse with her words.
Josh Winstead, a 17-year-old in his senior year at Wakefield High School in suburban North Raleigh, would seem to have little in common with DeAsia Washington, an 8-year-old from Farmville, a rural Eastern North Carolina town.
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But the duo became fast friends over the past month, sharing an extraordinary bond.
Each suffered from cardiomyopathy, a chronic disease of the heart muscle that can cause irregular heartbeats and possibly heart failure. Each also received a heart transplant last month at Duke University Medical Center.
On Wednesday, just weeks after their respective transplants, the unlikely companions checked out of the hospital together in a bittersweet moment complete with hugs, bubbles and tears.