This is part of WTOP’s continuing coverage of people making a difference in our community, reported by Stephanie Gaines-Bryant. Read more of that coverage.
After receiving two lungs and a heart, a Front Royal, Virginia, native said she realized why she was diagnosed with lung disease in 2018: “It happened so that I could help other people.”
Before becoming ill, Renee Gibbs had a successful real estate career. Now she is the founder and CEO of The Heartbeat Foundation, which helps support pre- and post-transplant patients nationwide.
“This disease and this transplant has made me realize what my purpose is in life,” she told WTOP.
Gibbs had the surgery in January of 2019, receiving two lungs and a heart. She was living in Maryland in May of 2018 when she was diagnosed with interstitial lung disease. Gibbs was hospitalized in 2018 after her lung capacity significantly decreased.
She says her two lungs and heart came from a 54-year-old woman, the same age as Gibbs, transported from Duke University.
On Oct. 31, 2018, after Gibbs moved to Alabama with her husband and two sons, she was hospitalized for five months.
Between that day and March 29, 2019, the day she was released from the hospital, Gibbs said she valued the support of family and friends.
“They gave me everything I needed,” she told WTOP. “They were there for me every day. They had a prayer chain going for me.”
Gibbs said support also came from a Facebook group she joined for pre- and post-op transplant recipients, where she found similarities between what she and others experienced while hospitalized.
The wife and mother of two sons said family members made sure she got her hair done, had manicures and even brought her special foods.
Meanwhile, many of the patients around her going through a similar experience didn’t have that type of support.
Without support, Gibbs said, your request for a transplant can be denied. She said doctors weigh many factors when it comes to receiving a transplant, including your emotional well-being and “if you’re being supported.”
Although the transplant was a success, the recovery was the difficult part. It took three years before Gibbs said she looked and felt like herself again.
“I literally cried every day for six months to a year,” she said, adding that her husband was relentless in his support.
When she noticed how many people on the transplant list had been approved for transplants but didn’t have support, she moved to start her foundation. The organization formally started in April of 2023, helping counsel patients, providing emotional support and things like manicures and hair care to help with their self-esteem.
More information is available at TheHeartbeatFoundation.com.
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