(WGHP) -- Many of you in the Piedmont Triad have been following the story of a young Burlington man named Alj Jeffries for the better part of a decade.

He’s been dealing with various health issues since he was a baby and received a heart transplant when he was just 13.

He’s almost 22, and he’s facing another obstacle. He may one day need a kidney transplant.

Alj has lab work routinely, especially after the heart transplant, and something was off the most recent time. Doctors decided to biopsy his kidneys and learned he had chronic kidney failure.

“One thing after another ... It’s just another fight to fight,” said his mother, Tina Turner.

Alj and his mother have fought too many fights already. He was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy as a baby, which is a dangerous heart condition where the muscles don’t work correctly.

“We’re not going to give up just like we didn’t give up with his heart situation,” Turner said.

In 2016, a then 13-year-old Alj had days to live when a heart transplant came through, giving him a new lease on life.

After spending so much of his life in hospital rooms and doctor’s offices, he says the new challenge isn’t intimidating.

“I’ve been through this before. I have been through a lot since I was born, so it’s a kind of normal thing for me to go from thing to thing,” Alj said.

In addition to making sure his body never rejects his new heart, he’s suffered from an uncommon skin condition as well as two dangerous bouts of COVID-19.

“I think I will be fine. I am prepared for what could be coming up. I think I will be OK,” he said.

The dynamic duo has achieved so much. He’s been able to travel abroad, his mom completed her nursing certificate and he lights up when you ask about his computer studies.

“It’s something we have to watch now, and we will possibly have to be on dialysis or in the future have a kidney transplant, just like he did with his heart transplant,” Turner said.

Alj, who knows all too well at his young age that moments are precious, plans to focus on being a normal 22-year-old.

“I am not too worried about the kidney right now. I will worry about that later. Right now, I am good,” Alj said.

Turner says she’ll continue to be by her son every step of the way, and they both shared their gratitude for everyone who has followed their story since he received that transplant.

She will celebrate a birthday next week, and his birthday is the following month.