PELHAM, N.C. — Fourteen-year-old Tanyia Coles of Caswell County dreams of becoming a veterinarian when she grows ups.
Her Grandmother Willa Jones said she has a giving heart.
“TaNyia is vibrant,” Jones said.
“She loves people and she loves animals.”
Jones said her granddaughter struggled with her health most of her life.
At just five-years-old, she had a heart valve replacement and on November 16 things took a turn for the worse.
“She was at home with her sister,” Jones explained.
“Her sister said she got up and she was walking and then she heard something fall. She went to her sister and she said when she got to her she had turned blue.”
TaNyia was immediately rushed to the hospital.
Doctors told the family she had a stroke on both sides of her brain.
For nearly six months, TaNyia underwent treatment at UNC Children’s Hospital in Chapel Hill and was released on April 2.
She’s now in a wheelchair, but Jones said she’s regaining strength.
“She can talk a little bit some now,” Jones said.
“The doctors had said she would be in a vegetative state the rest of her life, but God showed up.”
This Saturday the family will host a welcome home parade for TaNyia.
The paramedics who took her to the hospital will also take part.
“I just want her to know that she is special, that she’s loved.”
Jones hopes her story will encourage others who suffer from heart complications.
“I just want people to know that there is a God and even after a stroke, there is life.”
Jones said the Parade will start at 2 p.m. this Saturday in Pelham.
Parade goers will start lining up at 1:30 p.m. at the Law Road Bridge off Highway 29.