Stories of Hope
Stories of hope
True resilience
Latasha Traynham's 2019 double lung transplant restored her to an active life. Her family and transplant team gifted her with encouraging messages on a lung pillow. And Resilience, an art exhibit at the Gallery at UNOS, was put in motion by her daughter to honor her strength and perseverance.
Virtually tour the National Donor Memorial or read donor tributes
Latasha Traynham: Celebrating National Donate Life Month
To celebrate National Donate Life Month, Latasha shares her story leading up to and following her double lung transplant.
The Cullen family: Celebrating National Donate Life Month
The Cullen family talk about how living donation saved their daughter’s life.
Joseph Hillenburg: Celebrating National Donate Life Month
To celebrate both National Donate Life Month and National Pediatric Transplant Week, Joseph Hillenburg, shares his perspective as father of Ben, a transplant recipient.
Gianna Paniagua: Celebrating National Donate Life Month
Gianna Paniagua, heart transplant recipient, shares her story and how every day can feel similar to COVID-19 to her.
Roxanne Watson: Celebrating National Donate Life Month
To celebrate National Donate Life Month, Roxanne Watson shares her story as a heart transplant recipient.
Daughter Lives Normal Life Again
My daughter Sirii experienced pre-eclampsia with both of her pregnancies. Her one functional kidney she was born with dropped to less than 10% function after the second birth.
Miracles do happen
On July 18,2019 I received a heart and double lung transplant and it has been the best thing that has every happened to me. Also knowing that I was the first person to receive a heart and double lung transplant in San Diego in 2019.
Jameson’s story: The transplant that came out of left field
Jason Finney watched his family open gifts together through FaceTime with his wife, Sarah, on Christmas Day in 2017. Jason traveled out of state the day prior to support his father who required breathing assistance from a ventilator at the time. “Um – Jameson just...
Solitary Kidney Siblings
Eight years ago, my brother Josh, who was 19 at the time, donated his kidney to my Dad at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. It was a miracle how well the transplant worked. My sister, Hannah, and I were so inspired by what we saw that we knew one day, we wanted to be...
My second heartbeat
Monique Acosta House was your typical college student 20 years ago with the daily schedule filled with work and classes. She began to notice that she was feeling more tired than usual and had left arm pain. Her friend suggested that she should get that checked out by...
My second chance, thanks to an organ donor!
I received a kidney on February 5, 2019 from a young deceased organ donor. My donor and their family has given a second chance at life to a daughter, granddaughter, niece, aunt, friend, wife and mother. Words can't even express the gratitude my family and I have for...
Never knew I was sick
I woke up one Sunday morning in March, 2017 with my left arm swollen. I thought it was my heart so I went to a local ER and was diagnosed with cirrhosis and told I would need a transplant in 1 1/2 -2 years. I asked for a referral to Ohio State , was admitted for 22...