GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — At 24 years old, Jarell Holmes never had any signs of health problems, let alone a heart condition.
Yet, this past year, he learned how critical it is to listen to your symptoms and seek help when you need it.
"I was at the gym, playing basketball with friends," Holmes told 11Alive's Liza Lucas. "I was running up and down the court. I just felt like my chest was heavy."
What started as a typical day on the basketball court last May, unexpectedly ended in the emergency room. A follow up appointment and a CT scan with a specialist revealed an alarming diagnosis.
"The paramedics were running down the hall," Holmes said. "They rushed me back to the hospital."
Holmes was diagnosed with an aortic dissection and aortic root aneurysm, a life-threatening situation jeopardizing the large blood vessel that distributes blood from the heart to the rest of the body.
It was a puzzle to both Holmes' family and his team given his young age, but after multiple surgeries, doctors pinpointed the cause.
"In an extremely rare syndrome like Loeys-Dietz, he's had an extremely rare clinical course," Dr. Brad Leshnower, Director of Thoracic Aortic Surgery at Emory Healthcare, explained.
Loeys-Dietz syndrome is classified by doctors as a very rare genetic disorder affecting the body's connective tissues. The condition typically emerges in a person's 20's, according to Leshnower. An aneurysm can often be the first sign of the disorder, though other physical characteristics often align with the condition.
In Holmes case, he made it to doctors at Emory University Hospital just in time.
"He's one of the bravest young men I've met," Leshnower said. "Going through three surgery complications and a heart transplant in about a six month period."
Right before the new year, Holmes got a new heart, and 11Alive caught up with him again after the transplant, when he finally returned home after three months in the hospital.
"I feel like normal once again," Holmes said "Granted I don't have all my strength back."
Doctors will continue to monitor Holmes for the rest of his life, but he's just grateful for the little things, grateful for a second chance.
"It just feels good to be able to do things on my own now," he said. "To be able to walk without being short of breath and just be a normal 24-year-old."
Through his diagnosis, Holmes' family also learned his mother, too, has Loeys-Dietz, which was likely the cause of her own cardiac issues. Now that they've made a connection between a family history of heart issues, Holmes and his mom hope to make others aware of Loeys-Dietz with the aim to increase early detection.
Learn more about Jarell Holmes' journey and GoFundMe..