Debbie's Story

Debbie  |  Double Lung Recipient

Debbie was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis at just five weeks old. For more than 20 years, she managed to live an active life including and attended college at Colorado State University where she majored in English Literature. In 2005 – shortly after she graduated from college – her disease took a turn for the worse and Debbie was put on oxygen. Her doctors also recommended that she be added to the transplant waiting list for a new pair of lungs.

“Being that sick for so long was really hard for me. At one point I weighed about 80 pounds and my friends would carry me around because I couldn’t walk very well. One friend would hold me up while the other carried my oxygen tank,” Debbie explained.

On February 10, 2007, after 18 months of waiting with the last six months spent living in the hospital, Debbie received her lungs from a 30-year-old man.

Now 28-years-old, Debbie has a new lease on life and regularly camps, hikes, skis and pursues her passion for music by following bands around the country. “I spent a year and a half not able to walk my dog. Cutting so many things out of my life was very difficult, but thanks to my donor, I am able to enjoy them again,” said Debbie.

Having recently traveled to Paris and the Bahamas, Debbie is thrilled to make plans and set goals for herself. She would like to attend graduate school to study hospital administration. She also plans to reach out to the young and seemingly invincible college-age crowd and share her personal experience.  She wants to give people the answer to the question “Why would anyone want my organs?”

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