Grant Martin didn’t think he would be able to graduate from Columbus State University.
He was admitted to Emory University Hospital in April due to heart failure and was forced to forfeit his degree.
But on Saturday, in a conference room at the Atlanta hospital, he shook the university president’s hand and received his diploma.
“I was happy enough to be able to graduate and to actually get my degree, but to have the ceremony on top just kind of elevated everything,” Martin told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution from the hospital just hours after the ceremony.
Martin was born with congenitally corrected transposition of the great arteries, which means his ventricles and arteries are reversed, he explained. He had surgery when he was 5 years old, and the condition did not impact him until recently.
Around February, when he turned 24, he got sick and started regularly going to the hospital to remove fluid that built up throughout his body. He explained that a sign of heart failure is the retention of fluid in the legs and other parts of the body.
In April, he said his cardiologist decided it was time for him to get a new heart.
“I came in just to get some fluid that had built up off and my cardiologist started to look at my condition and was like, ‘Yeah, it might be time to get you on the transplant list and get ahead of this,’” he recounted.
At that point, Martin had only three weeks left before graduating with a degree in English education. He explained that he had been trying to prioritize his studies while in Columbus and planned to deal with his health after graduating, but that was no longer effective.
Martin updated the university about his health and chose to forfeit his degree with the hope of finishing after his transplant surgery. He said he felt hopeless, as if the past six years of studying had been for nothing.
Soon after being admitted to the hospital, Martin was told that the university president, Stuart Rayfield, consulted with administration and decided he had done enough to graduate. The college immediately showed interest in coming to Emory University Hospital and ensuring Martin got the full experience since he would not be able to attend the May 10 ceremony.
“I was ecstatic when I found out because I had basically given up on that altogether. To be actually able to get my degree and graduate, I thought I had lost that,” he said.
In a room full of friends and family, Martin walked behind Rayfield and his school’s deans in his black cap and gown while a violist played. The only difference between Martin’s and the school’s graduation was that it only took a few minutes for his name to be called.
Now it’s a waiting game at the hospital, where Martin is administered several medications throughout the day and is monitored at all hours. He said it gets repetitive, but he feels optimistic about making a full recovery and starting a full-time teaching job by next year.
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