Video of woman taking first breath with new lungs goes viral
Feb 15, 2018, 1:35 PM | Updated: 10:52 pm
ROCHESTER, Minn. — A video showing a powerful post-surgery moment at Rochester’s Mayo Clinic has gone viral. Now, Jennifer Jones, the subject of that video is speaking out about her new lease on life.
“That moment of taking that fresh breath. The first breath of air, for so long, I have not been able to breathe like that,” said Jones.
Jones admits there’s a lot she doesn’t recall after her transplant surgery last October, but she remembers everything about her first breath with her new lungs.
Jones said, “At first I was scared and then it was like, ‘oh my goodness, I can breathe and I can still breathe and I’m still taking in all this air’ and it was overwhelming, it was incredible.”
Eleven years ago, doctors diagnosed Jones with cystic fibrosis.
Last June, she started tests to see if she would be a candidate for a transplant.
By the time she found a match in October, her lung function had declined to just 10 percent.
Today, she’s able to live a normal life with 93 percent lung function, all thanks to an anonymous person, who made the choice to become a donor.
She has a message for the donor family, “I wouldn’t be here today without them… It’s not about me, it’s about them, and their legacy lives on because I get to live it now and that’s a special thing that I am so proud of, and I take these lungs and take this gift as like a child almost that I’ll protect with all my life. Their legacy, but my miracle.”
More than one million people have viewed thee YouTube video of Jones taking her first breath.
Although she doesn’t know if her donor’s family has seen the video, Jones said many donor families have contacted her and said they have found comfort in it.
Jones fiance, Rob Ronnenberg shared the story of one of those families with reporters.
He said, “She lost a nephew and she said ‘you know, we got the card from the family that received the organs and that was nice, but nothing moved me or gave me that sense of closure and really what it means to be an organ donor and recipient like watching this video and seeing her face… And knowing that she gets to live and seeing that impact and that’s what this is about.'”
You can register to be an organ donor through the website, Registerme.org.
