'The Force' with Teen Who Suddenly Needed New Heart

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BIRMINGHAM, MI –The Force will be with Trevor Sullivan, a 15-year-old freshman from Birmingham’s Groves High School, Friday morning.

The Emagine Palladium in Birmingham will open then for a private showing of “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” just for Sullivan, who underwent a heart transplant in November, Paul Glantz, owner of the Emagine Entertainment luxury theater chain, told The Birmingham Eccentric.

Sullivan, of Southfield, is recovering from the successful transplant performed at C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital in Ann Arbor, but is restricted from being in large crowds until his immune system rebounds.

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The illness came on suddenly and without warning last February, leaving the oldest of the four children of Phil and Kim Sullivan unable to play his tuba in band, compete on the football team, begin weight lift training or take part in the activities at the National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica in Royal Oak.

A trip to the emergency room “quickly became a living nightmare,” according to the narrative on GoFundMe campaign launched to help the family pay medical expenses.

Doctors said he was in heart failure. He was immediately airlifted to C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital at the University of Michigan. Doctors shocked his heart twice to normalize its rhythm. A normal heart rate for a teen at his age, 14 when he fell ill, would be 85 to 100 beats per minute. His was in the 180-200 range. In layman’s terms, his heart was misfiring.

His post-transplant recovery has been swift.

Before the transplant, he could barely take a breath without feeling exhausted, and could only manage a short walk around his wing at C.S. Mott. By the end of November, he was able to easily throw around a football with his brother.

Phil Sullivan told The Eccentric his son is a huge “Star Wars” fan whose first question to his surgeon after the surgery was whether he could see the film during its worldwide opening this weekend.

Well, no, not until at least February, and then only if he wore his mask, the surgeon reportedly said.

Glantz said he feels “blessed to be in a position to offer a little joy to a young man who’s been through a lot.”

“If you’re able to help someone out, why wouldn’t you do it?” Glantz said.

Wish Upon a Teen, a Birmingham-based charity that grants wishes and other services to teens with limiting medical conditions, arranged the special showing after executive director Nancy Sovran ran into the Sullivan family at a local event Sunday.

After learning how much seeing the movie meant to the 15-year-old, Sovran e-mailed Glantz. Within minutes, the theater owner responded and asked what he could do to help.

“Paul is so kind and generous and I just wanted everyone to know how lucky we are to have a leader in our community who reaches out to people in need,” Sovran said.

The entire Sullivan family, along with two other transplant patients and some of the Trevor’s friends, will see “The Force Awakens.”

“We’re just very thankful to Paul Glantz for opening the theater for us,” Phil Sullivan told The Eccentric. “... To be there on opening day is awesome.”

Phil Sullivan is the sole breadwinner for the family of six, and his income is commission based. If you feel inclined to help the family pay out-of-pocket and other costs not covered by insurance, you can do so below.

» Photo via GoFundMe