Tasha Jetson holds an autographed photo from Michigan State Coach Tom Izzo while Ryan Brown discusses talking with the coach via the phone and offering him player advice on July 15 in Hammond, Ind.

Ryan Brown refuses to let his medical challenges limit the possibilities of his future.

“You have scientists and statistics that say it’s very rare to get a second transplant, and it is,” Brown said. “But it’s very rare to be not normal, and being not normal — whether you’re autistic, or you have ADHD, or any problem; yeah, it’s a crutch sometimes. I do push it to the limit — it should also motivate you, uplift you to say ‘I might as well show everybody else what I can do.’”

The 18-year-old Hammond, Ind., resident has undergone two heart transplants — most recently in May — but with the help of some dedicated teachers and staff at 21st Century Charter School, he was able to catch up with his school work and is on track to graduate next year with college credits.

“I kind of feel like settling for GED is a failure, a cop out,” Brown said. “If I can do it, I can do it. Medical restrictions shouldn’t be an excuse to drop out and get a GED.”

Brown was always an excellent student, according to his teachers, but his journey has helped him mature and crystallize what he wants to do with his life.

“Kids like Ryan are what make the job so rewarding,” said Charlie Swanson, Brown’s anatomy and physics teacher.

Brown hopes to take enough dual credit courses this year to attain an associate degree from Ivy Tech Community College alongside his diploma before heading to Purdue University in West Lafayette to study biomedical engineering.

He wants to develop heart devices, like the Impella Pump that he received not long before his second transplant. He credits much of his development over the past year to the support of fellow patients on the heart transplant list at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago.

“Being 18 and I was around men who were 67 years old, 54 years old and 40 years old, who said you know whether I make it or not I’ve lived my life,” Brown said. “Now I have 90 percent of my heart, and I feel like it took the extra 10 percent from my old heart.

“And what’s going to stop me from being what I want to be?”

For a kid that was “born blue,” it’s remarkable that he made it out of the hospital the first time. Brown was born premature with a congenital heart defect and underdeveloped lungs, according to his mother, Tasha Jetson.

“They didn’t bring him to me in a timely manner, and they told me a technician is looking at his heart, which formed on the wrong side,” Jetson said.

He underwent a heart procedure when he was only 3 days old, but he was eventually released from the hospital and would have regular checkups every six months.

A bout with gastroenteritis at age 12 sent him to the emergency room, eventually triggering congestive heart failure and sending him to Children’s Memorial Hospital in Chicago on June 9, 2010.

“The doctor said, “Mom, where he’s at, it’s severe and your child will not leave this hospital without a heart,’” Jetson said. “His heart was no longer squeezing enough; it was a stiff heart.”

Brown was officially placed on the transplant list on June 21, 2010, and received his new heart six days later.

“I’ll never forget,” Jetson said. “I was at Dollar General off Calumet with two of my boys when I get a phone call. I was at the register, trying to grab some snacks, and my husband says ‘we’ve got a heart.’ I dropped everything and started screaming.”