The Daily Southerner, Tarboro, NC

Local News

Related Photos

  • Kimberly Bellamy

    images_sizedimage_039114813
February 8, 2010

Allen celebrates 10th anniversary

KIMBERLY BELLAMY

Tarboro resident Tony Allen, 58, is grateful for each year he lives to see, but he devotes a whole day every five years to celebrating the day he received his heart transplant, which saved his life.

Friday marked the 10th year since he went into the operating room at Duke Medical Center in 2001, and received the gift of life from a 25-year-old organ donor.

To commemorate the surgery, he didn't throw a big party or do anything extravagant. He relaxed in the comfort of his home, watched pre-game coverage of Super Bowl XLIV between the Indianapolis Colts and the New Orleans Saints and cooked on the grill.

To celebrate the five-year anniversary of the organ donation, Allen did much of the same except he was watching the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Seattle Seahawks.

Allen had no clue that there was anything wrong with his heart until he began having chest pains during church one Sunday, which turned out to be a heart attack. After seeking medical attention from Dr. Jayesh Patel, he was recommended to receive further examinations at Duke.

His condition was much worse than he anticipated. Allen was placed on the heart transplant list on June 23, 2000, and got the call from Duke that a new heart awaited him at their facility.

Reflecting back on it, Allen has decided not only to celebrate his life, but act as an advocate for organ donation. He said he talks with people to encourage them to become organ donors.

"Those parts (organs) are no good in the ground (after death), so why not use them to help someone," he said.

Medications will always play a part of his life now, taking 12 pills a day, but Allen said it's included the lifestyle changes he's made such as exercising, and eating healthier.

He said his health is so good that most people don't realize he had a heart transplant.

"People look at me and say 'It doesn't look like it's ever been anything wrong with you.' A lot of people don't know I've had one (a heart transplant)."

Text Only
Local News
  • The first lap (with Relay story).jpg Edgecombe Relay for Life seeking business partners

    Fresh from raising $196,312 and ranking No. 4 nationally in per capita fundraising, Relay for Life Edgecombe County is seeking business and corporate sponsors to help in the fight against cancer.
    Corporate and business sponsorship packets, which detail the levels and benefits of sponsorship, are ready to be delivered, according to Jane Gurley Harper, corporate sponsor chair. Businesses can also help by forming a team to participate in Relay and raise money in that manner.

    February 9, 2012 1 Photo

  • Maggie Boyd.jpg Princeville commissioner, interim town manager involved in physical conflict


    PRINCEVILLE — The disconnect of water service at a commissioner's home led to a physical confrontation between the elected official and a town employee Wednesday at the town hall.
    According to Commissioner Gwen Knight, interim Town Manager Maggie Boyd gave instructions to a public works employee and a police officer to cut off Knight's water because the account was delinquent in the amount of $662.77.
    Knight said she went to the town hall to pay the bill as soon as she was told about her service being cut off.

    February 9, 2012 2 Photos

  • Victor Marrow new hedeshot.jpg Princeville terminates town manager Appoints museum curator to fill same position

    PRINCEVILLE — A contract dispute between the Princeville town manager and the town commissioners led to his termination at the close of business Monday.
    Victor Marrow was notified by Princevile Attorney Charles Watts that he had been fired.
    Marrow's contract expired Feb. 1, but the town extended it six days in hope of his signing a proposed new contract. Marrow was hired in February 2010 on a two-year contract. Nine months later, he resigned, only to rescind his resignation the following morning.
    Stipulations of the proposed new contract were untenable to Marrow and included the stipulation that it was to end on June 12, included a $5,000 pay cut, work in excess of 40 hours per week and write at least three grants per month, he said. 

    February 8, 2012 1 Photo

  • CRIME ROUNDUP

    The Tarboro Police Department responded to a call Friday and was told a victim had been stabbed. While conducting an investigation, officers were told by the victim that Perry Lee Bunn, 58, 304 Granville St., had stabbed him several times. The name of the victim was not released by police.
    Officers called EMS to respond to the scene to transport the victim to the hospital so he could treated for his injuries.

    February 8, 2012

  • Significant deficiencies in county audit

    Auditors told Edgecombe County Commissioners on Monday night that they found significant deficiencies while compiling the 2010-2011 annual audit of county finances. Still, the audit received an unqualified opinion.

    February 8, 2012

  • Teresa Bryant headshot.jpg Bryant declines to seek re-election

    Teresa DeLoatch Bryant announced she will not seek re-election to the District 2 seat she now holds on the Edgecombe County Public Schools Board. The announcement came 91 days before the May 8 Primary Election and nearly a year after the first-term plus one year board member announced her resignation for personal and career reasons. She later rescinded her decision.

    February 6, 2012 1 Photo

  • MimiHerman.jpg W.A. Patillo receives $5,000 poetry grant

    W.A. Pattillo School has been awarded $5,000 from the North Carolina Arts Council for Poetry in the Classroom with Mimi Herman.
    The funds will be used to provide a week of poetry writing experiences for seven fourth grade classes through the expertise and creativity of Herman. Students will gain self-confidence, and will view themselves as writers rather than merely consumers of literature. They will learn to use language effectively and creatively to communicate thoughts, feeling, and impressions.

    February 6, 2012 1 Photo

  • IMG_5889.JPG Pizza Bowl

    The biggest football game of the year brings the largest sale of the year for two area pizza restaurants.
    Tarboro branches of Pizza Inn and Dominos Pizza are gearing up for Super Bowl XLVI Sunday by increasing their regular employee lineup by as many as seven.
    Pizza Inn is running a special that they believe will keep them busy throughout the day. Last year they sold over 200 large pizzas on Super Bowl Sunday compared to 50 on an average Sunday.

    February 3, 2012 1 Photo

  • Edgecombe unemployment up in December

    TARBORO — Unemployment rates increased in 93 of North Carolina’s 100 counties in December. Rates decreased in four counties and remained the same in three.
    Edgecombe, which saw a slight improvement in November, fell back to its October 2011 level (15.7%). Of the 100 counties in North Carolina, Edgecombe and Dare are tied at third highest in unemployment. 

    February 3, 2012

  • Three ECPS campuses ahead of First Lady's nutritional guidelines

    When First Lady Michelle Obama and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced new guidelines for the nutritional overhaul of school meals last week, they could have chosen three of Edgecombe County's public schools as their models.

    February 2, 2012