In July 2024, Escobar was listed for a double-lung transplant. After two months and four different attempts at procuring lungs for him, a match was found.

Brianna was listed for a transplant on April 17, and just seven days later, received the call that a liver had been found. On April 25, Dr. Selvaggi and his team transplanted Brianna and gave her a second chance at life.

“I never had any issues with my heart or lungs; this diagnosis really came out of nowhere,” Escalona said. “I’ve always been a strong and healthy person.”

Jaundice, weight gain, swelling, and immobility were the symptoms Christopher Downing, 58, was experiencing just five years ago when he was diagnosed with renal and liver failure.

I spent 21 days in the hospital in Atlanta. They placed me on the list again, and I went back on dialysis,” she said.

“Living kidney donation allows for the most successful, immediate transplant outcomes,” said Mariella Ortigosa-Goggins, MD, director of MTI’s living kidney donor program. “Our goal as the largest living donor program in Florida is to provide safe, efficient transplants.”

Once she was resuscitated, Sheli was placed on an extracorporeal membrane oxygenator, or ECMO, which takes over the function of the heart and lungs when the organs can no longer support themselves.

Spending time with family, boating, working, and exercise were Gilbert Machado’s favorite pastimes – especially cycling around Miami with his wife of 38 years.

Sherri DiLorenzo, 65, has lived her life with a cigarette in her hand.