Beloved local figure dies just short of 21st birthday
Robbinsville – There are lots of things that can be said about Gentry Trantham, but two stand out: he was arguably the most famous resident of Graham County, and though he had a small, misshapen physical heart, no one in Graham County had a bigger heart for people or for God.
Trantham died early Nov. 3, three months after a heart transplant surgery and just shy of his 21st birthday.
His funeral is planned for Saturday. See Page 6A for his obituary.
Trantham wasn’t expected to survive much past birth. Diagnosed with a rare and crippling heart defect when he was still in his mother’s womb, he wasn’t expected to survive, much less become an avid outdoorsman, Eagle Scout and much more.
He lived long enough to give his permission for the heart transplant, which occurred in early-August, the last time he was home. He spent the rest of his life hospitalized in Durham.
In the end, most of his major organs were in decline or failure except two: his brain – and his new heart.
Lifelong struggle
Lisa Trantham was born and raised in Graham County, but was living in Jackson County when she became pregnant with Gentry. She was working with special needs adults and children at the time – “God was getting me ready for Gentry,” she said.
While he was still 22 weeks in the womb, Gentry was diagnosed with hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS), a birth defect in which the left side of the heart does not form correctly, affecting blood flow.
But that wasn’t the only obstacle. Gentry had a condition that prevented him from fighting infections. He suffered pulmonary hypertension. He had protein-losing enteropathy (PLE), which caused albumin and other protein-rich materials to leak into his intestine. He also had primary adrenal insufficiency, a rare condition where the adrenal glands do not work properly and cannot make enough cortisol. He was borderline hypoglycemic. He also suffered from migraine headaches.
Meanwhile, Gentry lived. His bulb burned brightly, but burned out early.
He wasn’t expected to survive birth and even if he did, wasn’t expected to ever walk or talk. Yet he started crawling, talking and then walking, all at the normal times – or near normal.
He underwent heart surgeries when he was five days old, four months old and three years old. He was on oxygen around the clock until he was 5.
The family prayed for a heart transplant opportunity when he was still a baby, but baby’s hearts are in short supply. A variety of treatments and a cocktail of prescription medications had to suffice until he either died or reached an age where a heart transplant was possible.
Lisa said Gentry would point out when he was in pain or uncomfortable, but never complained about his condition or his plight. There was always somebody else in worse shape, he would say.
Gentry graduated from high school on time. He became an Eagle Scout. He volunteered his time with numerous causes including Grace Place, the Salvation Army and Special Olympics.
In his Eagle Scout project, judged the fourth best in all of western North Carolina, he collected holiday food baskets for 200 families.
“He never met a stranger,” Lisa said.
“To know Gentry was to love Gentry,” his sister Willow added. “When people who don’t know him are crying, you know he made an impact.”
Gentry loved the outdoors – especially hunting and fishing. He would bungie-cord his oxygen machine and other life-maintaining gear to the all-terrain vehicle or boat. He played soccer, basketball and baseball. He even served on a dirt track race car pit crew.
But his family knew he was living on borrowed time. By May, his heart was beginning to fail and he was put on a heart transplant waiting list on May 26.
“We waited 67 days for the call,” Lisa said.
Last hope
On Aug. 1, his last day home in Graham County, a donor heart became available.
The only thing the Tranthams know about the donor was that he or she was from Virginia and that the heart was a nearly perfect match – 97 percent, a miraculously-high number.
When Lisa called Gentry with the news, he told her she was joking and hung up on her.
His dad, William “Scotty” Trantham, probably violated speed limits in that drive from Robbinsville to Duke University Hospital in Durham.
The surgery took place the next day. Following his heart transplant, his condition never fully stabilized. His final decline started about a week before he passed away.
Willow visited him the night before he passed away. He was tired and unable to speak, but held his sister’s hand and whispered the words, “I love you,” one last time to his sister.
His blood pressure started to drop later that night. His family joined him and stood vigil through the night.
At 5:05 a.m. the next day, his lifelong struggle was over.
Gentry donated his old heart to Duke University for research.
He gave until the very end.