A Breath of Hope: The Remarkable Journey Of Oklahoma Triple Lung Transplant Survivor

An Oklahoma woman underwent an infrequent procedure, and with it came a third chance at life.

In January, she was the recipient of a third double-lung transplant.

It’s a gift most take for granted. Taylor Stephenson does not. “Breathing is just, it’s amazing,” said Stephenson. “Two months ago I was dying. I mean literally dying. I couldn’t breathe. It felt like suffocating.”

At 9 months old, Taylor was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis; a genetic condition that complicates breathing. She began going to the hospital in the sixth grade. “Unfortunately, it just started going down faster and faster,” she recalls. “It was like, it’s time we start talking about transplant.”

She received her first set of lungs in St. Louis at the age of 15. “It lasted me about four years and in 2019 I learned I was in rejection,” she said.

She pursued a second transplant. This time she found one at UT Southwestern in Dallas. It didn’t last as long as the first. “It gave me an amazing three years.”

Those three years ended when Taylor was diagnosed with a rhinovirus – the common cold. For her, it was anything but common. “Two weeks later I was like you know what I’m just feeling shortness of breath this isn’t right. I should be feeling better,” she said. “In the back of my mind, I think I knew it was ending.”

Soon, everyday tasks became difficult if not impossible. She knew the lungs were failing. “It was a really hard pill to swallow because at that time I was only 25, and I didn’t want my life to end,” she said. “There’s no stopping that rejection once it’s started. You just have to hope for the best and keep praying.”

Those prayers would be answered in a way she didn’t know was possible. “I had never heard of a third transplant before,” Taylor said.

After researching, she found Duke University Hospital had performed 12 of them.

The ability to receive just one transplant is difficult. A patient must be healthy enough to receive it, it must match size and blood type and then they have to make a list.

The chances of that happening three times is highly unlikely. “When they said yes to actually accepting me into their program,” Taylor recalls. “I just cried profusely because I was getting a third chance at life.”

On January 18, Taylor awoke from surgery as Duke’s 13th successful third transplant.

Last week, she arrived back at home in Newcastle after six months in North Carolina. She says it’s all possible because someone somewhere made a choice in which they would never see the outcome. “I’m forever grateful for my donors,” she said.

It is a gift received with each breath and one she says will never be taken for granted.

The medical bills and travel expenses are costly. To help Taylor you can head to Fundraiser by Frank Stephenson: Tay's Transplant Journey (gofundme.com)