FARMINGTON—TikTok star JT Laybourne was born in 1988 with a heart defect called subaortic stenosis and had open heart surgery when he was 3 years old. Against the odds, Laybourne went more than 30 years without a problem until 2020 when he was told he would need surgery again. 

The Farmington native’s social media platform focused on uplifting, positive content and after his experience, he added heart health awareness in the hope of saving lives. Last week, Laybourne traveled to Irvine, California for the “Patient Experience” where he got to meet the team at Edwards Lifesciences who made his aortic heart valve. 

“They made me feel so loved,” said Laybourne. “I got to see behind the scenes who was making these devices. It’s something I’ll never forget – the chance to meet everybody who touched the valve that’s in my heart.”

Part of the valve was made in Singapore, he said. “It’s cool to say thank you to the people who held it, sewed it. It’s a humbling experience. It’s a meaningful job, I’ll always be connected to them. Because they did their job right – I'm alive.” 

After the first open heart surgery when he was a child, Laybourne said his parents were told that he’d have the next one before he was 18. “That just kept getting pushed back. In 2003 I got married and started having kids. Life got crazy so I didn’t get in to have it checked.”

Laybourne said his wife pushed him to go to the doctor since it had been so long. “That was in 2020 and we were shocked to hear that my heart was not doing good and that I would need open heart surgery.”

This was right as everything started shutting down with the pandemic, he said. “I was told that my wife Brooklyn couldn’t be with me for the surgery because no one was allowed into the hospital. I was scared. I told them there's no way I can have it without my wife but I told people on my platform that life is not fair, it's how you handle it. It was time for me to take that opportunity and not run away.”

So on May 8, 2020 Laybourne said he gave his wife a hug in front of the hospital with the hope that they’d see each other again. “She was hanging out in the parking lot of McKay Dee keeping people posted. We received so much love and support during that time.”

It was after that the American Heart Association reached out to him to share his story, said Laybourne. “I wanted to help with fundraising so there was a donation sticker on TikTok where it was easy for people to click and donate.”

The goal was to raise $25,000 by the end of December 2020, he said. “I told them if we can’t raise it I’d make up the difference. We raised $256,000. Through fundraising in 2021 we raised more than $400,000. We hit the million mark in September 2022.”

Everybody has rallied, said Laybourne. “To be part of something like that is amazing. I’ve seen mountains move through TikTok.”

Laybourne started his TikTok platform in 2019 after being bullied on Instagram. “I was lip syncing, which is something I love to do, and I was posting it and people loved it but then people started posting mean things. I found TikTok and continued what I wanted to do.”

His platform was meant to use social media in a positive way, said Laybourne. “I wanted to inspire others and use it for good. I have three kids and I wanted to show them the good side of social media.This is the world they have to grow up in.”

Laybourne started “Hat and Seek” where he would leave a hat somewhere for people to find. “I hid a hat at the Capitol and when I saw a video of them jumping for joy it changed my life,” he said. “I realized I could make people happy and bring them together.”

They posted videos that would show landmarks for people to see where it was, said Laybourne. “We hid it well enough so that someone wouldn’t just randomly pick it up.”

Laybourne said he uses his name JT to mean “Just Think.” I want people to ‘just think’ what a smile would do. Let’s be kinder to each other. Just think before you react badly. Maybe that person who cut you off just lost a loved one.”

Laybourne is passionate about what he does. “I want people to understand that they need to get their heart checked,” he said. “If they did, a lot more people would still be on this earth.”