Lyndsey's Transplant Story

A Life-Changing Connection

Lyndsey McLaughlin and Diana Rodriguez, two New York women from different worlds, never imagined their paths would cross, let alone that a life-changing event would connect them for the rest of their lives. But two years ago, Lyndsey, then 26, struggled for every breath she took, and it's thanks to Diana that she is alive today.

In 2011, Lyndsey was working at a hedge fund in New York and had everything she ever wanted, except for one thing: A future. Lyndsey was dying.

“I'm 26 years old. I should be out every Friday and Saturday night. I should be at the bars having a couple of drinks, not worrying about how many medicines I'm going to have to take the next day.”

The Diagnosis

At age 2, Lyndsey was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis, a genetic disease which causes mucus to build up in the lungs. Growing up, she did chest physical therapy every day, which started with her parents clapping on her back every day.

By the time she was 18-19 years old, her lung capacity had deteriorated to the point where doctors told her she would need a lung transplant. Lyndsey joined the New York organ donor list — and waited. All the while, her condition worsened.

The Wait

She spent more than seven months on the organ donor waiting list for new lungs, deteriorating fast. Dr. Joshua Sonett, the chief of thoracic surgery at New York Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center, treated Lyndsey.

“Just imagine if I took 80 percent of your lung away, how you would function. Lyndsey is going to die if she doesn't get her lung soon.”

Lyndsey's mother Donna McLaughlin knew her daughter might not see another birthday. “I used to go to her apartment every day when she really got sick… and I would walk to work crying. Knowing that my daughter was dying before my eyes and there wasn't a thing I could do about it.”

The Call

On the morning of April 3, 2011, Lyndsey got the call that a pair of lungs was available and she needed to come to the hospital immediately to see if she would be a match.

“I was never scared. I know that sounds unlikely and weird but I was never scared because I knew I needed it.”

After a complicated, intense surgery, Lyndsey began her recovery. Within a few months, she was embracing her new life — she even took up surfing.

Adrian's Story

Adrian Rodriguez was an 18-year-old high school senior, a charmer with a passion for cooking. Diana Rodriguez's only son thrived at the Marta Valle High School on Manhattan's Lower East Side. He went on to create his own cooking show, which he recorded in the school's teaching kitchen.

Life was good. Adrian had his eye on the future and was committed to his dream of becoming a professional chef. But on April 1, 2011, tragedy struck. Adrian was involved in an accident at a subway station. He was rushed to Bellevue Hospital and declared brain dead that evening.

In the end, Diana made the difficult decision to agree to donate Adrian's organs. Lyndsey received his lungs.

An Extraordinary Meeting

By law, organ donors must remain anonymous, but Lyndsey contacted the Organ Donor Network and discovered the donor's family was as eager to connect as she was.

At an extraordinary meeting, Lyndsey and her family got to thank Diana, face-to-face.

“It's crazy for me to think that she can literally put her hands here,” Lyndsey said, touching her chest, “and she can feel it's him breathing. It's him breathing and I'm breathing with him.”

Lyndsey and Adrian's mother now share a special bond that can never be broken.

“I think about him every day. When I went to the Great Barrier Reef and I was snorkeling… thinking 'can you believe we're here, I can't believe we're doing this. I'm here because you did this for me.' I thank him all the time.”