Baltimore City single dad Alfred Coleman and his daughter Mya (11) are a strong team of two. Coleman, who also has two adult children, works as a handyman in Baltimore. Having lost her mother in 2020, Mya later developed heart failure and underwent months of intensive medical treatment before receiving a heart transplant at 9 years old.
Now two years post-transplant, Mya spent part of this summer at a Brainy Ridge Heart Camp for children with heart conditions. With the help of organizations such as the Casey Cares Foundation, Mya and her dad are working on living their everyday lives as regularly as possible.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
What’s the best part about being Mya’s dad? How do you like to spend your free time together?
I would say having someone to cherish, to take care of, for whatever purpose that is and making sure she has all of the things that I didn’t get in my [childhood]. I just want to let Mya be herself.
We like to go down and walk. We might go along the reservoir. We might go to a movie. We like the zoo, the aquarium; we might catch a play. She loves to go eat out, so we might do that.
What are some of the places you and Mya have traveled together?
We love Ocean City, but we’ve gone to New Orleans, Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama.
What have Casey Cares and Brainy Ridge meant to you?
[Casey Cares recognizes] parents and families going through these critical stages of life, and they go out and try to make happiness for families. They say, “Hey, let us give you some passes to go to the theater, so you can relax. Go to the circus, the zoo, the aquarium the car show.”
At Brainy [Ridge], she does one week at camp, and I think it’s helpful, because it helps these kids [have a sense] of destiny in their life.
How has Mya’s condition and illness influenced your parenting?
It just put a little but more on my plate. Being a parent, you [have] to do everything that a parent is supposed to do. My parents were the kid of people that loved their kids, so that kind of rubbed off on me. There’s not a day I’m not with Mya.
Have these challenges helped you find strength in each other? How has your relationship changed?
See[ing] her develop into her own character and just have her here and watch her grow up is such a privilege. Mya is a soldier. She’s really taking this on with a positive attitude.
What would you say to parents who have seriously ill children going through something like this?
Just keep your head up. It’s the only thing you can do. You have to motivate yourself through it all, and you [have] to be able to have acceptance in your life. You have to be thankful that the doctors that God put in the world today have a lot of medical knowledge and are able to save these kids. Years ago, she never would have made it. It’s a journey.
What things interest Mya, and what do you want for her in the future?
She likes to memorize songs — she’s a singer. She loves doing the talent show. She loves to tell jokes and dance. I want her to be able to live out the best years of her life with the heart transplant.
What has surprised you most about being a dad?
Patience and just checking all the boxes in your own life first. Allowing someone else to be themselves — it’s worth all the luxuries in the world.
Family Favorites
Favorite Family Food: Chicken
Favorite Game: Uno
Favorite Restaurant: Texas Roadhouse
Favorite Vacation Spot: Ocean City, Maryland
