Former heart patient John Corbell finds his college home at Bevill State

Words by Terrell Manasco | Image by Al Blanton

The kid’s got a lot of heart. 

When John Corbell arrived in this world, life promptly tossed him a bag of rotten lemons before he took his first breath. 

So, John learned to make lemonade. 

It hasn’t been easy for the Sulligent native, who was born with a rare disease called Unbalanced AV Canal with Pulmonary Atresia.

“It’s basically half a heart,” says John’s mother, Sabrina Corbell. “He did not have the proper arteries going to his lungs. His aorta was turned around. He did not have a left ventricle.” 

Despite being on medication, John was sickly as a child. Because a viral infection could send him to the hospital—or worse—he had to avoid sick people. When his friends played football, John could only sit and watch. 

“I couldn’t do much. I couldn’t breathe well,” he remembers. “My heart rate was really high. It made me weak and nauseous.” 

In 2018, a 17-year-old girl from Georgia passed away. Her death, though tragic, gave birth to hope. Her named was McKenzie—and she was a heart donor. Within days, doctors at Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt placed McKenzie’s heart in John’s chest. 

But his health issues weren’t over. Months later, John’s neck was swollen, he was having headaches and was often tired. He was diagnosed with lymphoma and had to undergo chemotherapy, which he completed in May 2019. 

As a boy, John always loved football. He became his middle school’s team manager in the 7th grade, but his dream was to play. He got his wish his senior year when he was cleared for a few plays each game as a defensive back and receiver at Sulligent High School. Recently, he was an overall state winner of the 36th Annual Bryant-Jordan Awards in Birmingham.

John has a special affinity for the doctors and nurses who have helped him over the years.

Birmingham heart physician Dr. Rump, John’s doctor for many years, was fresh out of medical school when he began treating John at Children’s Hospital. 

He also has a deep respect for those who work with children. “I'm crazy about the child life specialists at both (Birmingham and Nashville) hospitals. Their job is to make the child's day a little better,” John says.

This fall, John will enter the Bevill State nursing program on the Hamilton campus. His goal is to work at Children’s Hospital. “I've always wanted to help people since I was little,” he says. “I've gone through what those kids are going through. I feel like as a nurse, I can encourage them and their parents. This isn't the end of the line; there's a future.”

John admits there were times he was troubled. Making lemonade wasn’t always easy but he says he could always lean on his family, friends, and God. “Even in the dark times when I was down and scared, there was always a comfort and a peace over me,” he says. “I believe that was all God and I give Him all the thanks and the glory that I'm still here today.”

Finally, John would like to share something a young girl named McKenzie taught him. “I encourage anyone to be a heart or organ donor,” he says. “You don't know what it means to someone else who needs that. It opens a whole new chapter in their life. You could save someone's life.” 78