Briana's Transplant Journey

Don't let this image of a beautiful young woman fool you. Briana (Hansen) DeWitt may look like the picture of perfect health on her wedding day in 2022, but what lies beneath are lungs that are quickly being consumed by Cystic Fibrosis (CF); a devastating and life threatening disease. Over her 26 years of life, frequent and persistent lung infections have caused severe lung scarring and left her multi-drug resistant. Her lungs are only functioning at 20%-30% compared to healthy lungs.

The miracle for 90% of CF sufferers comes in the form of a groundbreaking drug treatment called Trikafta. Sadly due to a rare gene mutation, our Briana is one of the unlucky 10%, leaving a double lung transplant as her only chance for survival.

Briana was recently added to the double lung transplant list at The New York Presbyterian Columbia University Hospital, given priority due to severe deterioration of her lungs. She will not be able to return to work as a Physician Assistant for at least year during her recovery period. This is certain to be a significant hardship to Briana and her family due to cost of the procedure, travel expenses, and lodging expenses for her family for several months during her recovery and rehabilitation.

We hope you will consider contributing to this incredible young woman and her mounting medical expenses.