Nine-year-old TJ Wilson, the only child of Lori and Randy Wilson, was a busy boy this summer attending Cub Scout camps.

He swam in a pool, shot arrows and participated in other physical challenges.

But this year was a particularly challenging camp for TJ because he had a medical complication last year that resulted in doctors having to amputate his left arm about halfway between his elbow and shoulder.

The surgery was precipitated by a heart transplant TJ received on July 16, 2007, when he was less than 2 years old. A virus had attacked TJ’s heart.

TJ’s mother, Lori Wilson of Allison Park, Allegheny County, said her son’s struggle is much different now, but it could be just as lethal. Due to his transplant, TJ is susceptible to all kinds of illness. For this reason, TJ went back to the hospital on July 28, 2014.

“It happened so fast,” his mother said.

TJ’s body became riddled with blood clots that accumulatedin his arm. Some clots reached his brain causing a stroke.

Wilson said this prompted doctors to not use blood thinners for fear of permanent brain-damage. They began plasmapheresis, a process where a machine cleans the blood.

The machine worked for a time, but soon TJ’s arm began to swell and discolor.

“He was in constant pain through it,” Wilson said. “He would just lay there and thrash (his arm).”

She said surgeons did everything they could, but they had no choice but to amputate, and a few days later, TJ lost his arm. The clotting also caused permanent and blinding damage to TJ’s left eye.

Nonetheless, the surgery was deemed a success.

Wilson said she and her husband, Randy Wilson of Penn Township, were nervous about seeing their son for the first time after surgery. They feared his curiosity. They didn’t want to answer his questions, but TJ didn’t ask any, not at first.

“You don’t know what to expect the first time you walk into the room,” she said.

But as they entered, Lori Wilson said they noticed that TJ no longer was in pain.

“Then, it was a matter of healing and getting better,” she said.

Lori Wilson said the doctors told her and her husband not to mention the arm, but to let TJ bring it up.

“I did mention it one time,” TJ said.

But before that time, Wilson said her son believed his arm was tucked back into the stub, adorned with a linen-wrapped dressing.

TJ spent the next month in the hospital in rehabilitation, which he didn’t seem to like, Lori said. When he finished the inpatient rehab, he transitioned into Tae Kwon Do for physical therapy. He now goes two to three times per week.

“I don’t always want to go,” he said. “But after class, I feel good, and I’m always smiling.”

Wilson said the martial art helps with his strength, flexibility and balance. She said it also helps with his memory and reflexes, and the combination of mental and physical training fits TJ’s needs.

Wilson said school was another concern, but one teacher, Julie Aiken from South Butler Primary School, offered to tutor him at home, two nights per week. She said the school and Aiken have been helpful and accommodating.

Lori said TJ may not have moved into fourth grade this year without the extra help, and she is thankful for teachers like Aiken, who willingly lend their time to her son.

In his free time, TJ likes to listen to the bands Five Finger Death Punch and the Black Eyed Peas, but he also likes playing video games. He uses one hand and performs tricks to play, flipping and contorting the controller with precision.

Wilson said her son is pretty good, too. He likes to play online against other players, and he doesn’t often lose.

TJ also participates in Cub Scouts with Pack 53 of the Nixon United Methodist Church as a Webelo Scout. Through this year’s scout summer camps, TJ made good friends who he said he considers close, like brothers.

Wilson said she was nervous about the physical toll on TJ’s arm and prosthetic but also his transplanted heart, which limits what he can do.

“Not all (people with) transplants can perform at a high athletic ability,” she said.

Nonetheless, TJ completed long hikes at Camp Agawam, and he legged the trips between merit badge stations, too. Wilson said her son was exhausted from the hikes alone, but as he walked and talked, he continued to connect and felt included by the other scouts. She said he felt less anxious and shy.

“He was afraid all the other kids would laugh at him,” she said. “But what we found out was that Cub Scouts is a pretty safe place.”

TJ said he was used to other children picking on him or ignoring him completely.

“It makes me mad,” he said. “Because I’m trying to be their friends and they don’t include me.”

But Wilson said none of the scouts excluded him, rather they encouraged him. She said TJ excelled at archery. She said he became more self-dependent as a shooter.

“He was shooting with all the other kids,” she said. “He shoots independently without me at this point.”

In the swimming pool, TJ’s friends played in the deep end. Scouts need to pass a swimming test to swim in the deep end. He barely passed a more basic test at an earlier camp, but a camp counselor asked him to at least try it, promising to swim next to him.

Without help, TJ finished the test. Breathing heavily and exhausted, his friends cheered him.

Wilson said she couldn’t have been more proud. One of TJ’s friends did a flip into the pool in his honor.

“For him, it was a big deal,” Wilson said. “He tried, he pushed and he did it.”

Wilson said scouts will be something TJ can always depend on to stay active.

“He looks at his denmates as his brothers,” she said. “It’s a safe place for him to be.”

Wilson said she would like TJ to continue improving and finding happiness in his activities, and she plans to keep exposing him to new things because there might be something special in his future.

“As bad as things were, we’ve had a lot of good,” she said. “I want him to feel the same as any of the other kids.”

TJ said he’s trying his best already, but he wants to try sports like football and baseball. He said he wants to keep pushing himself.

As camp ended, TJ said he felt better. He said talking about his prosthetic didn’t bother him, at least not with his fellow scouts, and he didn’t mind telling others what it did and why he needed it. He said it was more about being comfortable with himself than others.

“It’s OK to be different,” he said. “You should be proud of who you are.”