Isabel Sabori

Type of Donation:       heart and double lung recipient

Age and Location:      Age 46 – Woodland Hills, CA

Date of Donation:           03/19/2013

Sponsor:                      Honored by OneLegacy

ISABEL’S STORY

When Isabel was 17 years old was diagnosed with Pulmonary Hypertension, which has no cure; in some cases, a transplant is an option. Isabel is from a small town called Benjamin Hill in Sonora, Mexico. In 2001, the doctors recommended that Isabel come to the USA to seek treatment; otherwise, she would only survive for four more years. She moved to the USA, leaving Her Parents, friends, and university studies.

Isabel and her family's life changed with the diagnosis, having to adapt to her new life among doctors, medications, studies, and oxygen tanks. It wasn't easy, but they did it.

Isabel started treatment at USC and later UCLA, and after 16 years of her diagnosis and using oxygen 24/7, when the medications no longer worked, the Doctor said that it was time to have a Heart and Lung Transplant. Isabel had a long road. She fought a lot to get the transplant, but finally Isabel entered the waiting list on March 21, 2012, and on March 19, 2013, when she was 33 years old, she received her Heart and lung transplant at Stanford University Medical Center.

The transplant was a powerful experience; Isabel had a slow and challenging recovery, but thank God, she made it and survived.

Despite the difficulties her family and Isabel went through, she is very happy and grateful for the gift of life she received thanks to an Angel and the Donor family. Isabel is Happy and Blessed to be able to breathe.

Isabel's illness took away many things from her. She couldn't have children, she couldn't accompany her mom in her last moments, she couldn't finish her university studies, and faced many other challenges.

Thanks to her donor, Isabel has had the opportunity to see her beloved nieces and nephews grow and spend time with them. They are like her own children. Thanks to organ donation, to her donor and donor family, Isabel is still here with her nephews, sisters, In-laws, and with someone special, her puppy Javier Benjamin, blessed and enjoying the Gift of Life. She is grateful to God for breathing freely.