08/21/2026
This is the type of news that gets us up in the morning! 🫁🌹💜
“If you believe in miracles, here’s one.”
Twenty years ago, a 16-year-old girl with cystic fibrosis underwent a second double-lung transplant at UNC. Today, she’s a 36-year-old mother who is breathing easily, living independently, and celebrating two decades since that life-changing surgery.
For transplant surgeon Dr. Thomas Egan, seeing her return to UNC 20 years later was a powerful reminder of why transplant medicine matters. He does not believe the program had previously seen a re-transplant recipient reach the 20-year milestone. Recent data show just how unusual her outcome is: five-year survival for patients with cystic fibrosis undergoing repeat double-lung transplantation is approximately 39%.
“So she is extremely lucky,” Egan said. “If you believe in miracles, here’s one.”
When asked what she would say to a 16-year-old facing a re-transplant today, she offered the perspective that only someone who has lived through it can provide: “It might be hard, but things will eventually get better. Life can be normal after transplant.”
