Heart transplant recipient Josh Oakley ‘wanted to be better because he understood his second chance.’
By Bobby Ross Jr. | The Christian Chronicle
The news hit me like a fastball to the gut.
“With overwhelming sadness, we need to share that the Lord called Josh home today,” Krista Prindle, one of Josh Oakley’s five older sisters, wrote on Facebook. “Thank you for your continued prayers for our family during this unimaginably difficult time.”
Josh was just 23 — the same age as my son Keaton.
Related: He pitches with heart — a brand new one
In 2016, I was blessed to tell the inspiring story of how Josh, then an 18-year-old Kansas high school baseball player, came to receive a life-saving heart transplant.
“It’s an absolute gift from God to still be able to play this game,” Josh, a member of the Northside Church of Christ in Wichita, said after a successful pitching outing on a blue-sky April afternoon.
This story appears in the May edition of The Christian Chronicle.
The Ross News 