In 1992, when I was just four years old, I was diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer. I was treated at UNC Chapel Hill, where I went through 18 months of chemotherapy every 21 days, followed by 30 rounds of radiation. It was a lot for a little kid to go through, but I made it. The one thing they warned me about was the possibility of cardiomyopathy from the chemo later down the road. In 2001, when I was 14, I went into heart failure for the first time and spent two weeks in the ICU.
The doctors managed to stabilize me with medication, and I lived like that for the next decade. In 2011, it happened again. More hospital stays, more meds. By 2021, my medications just weren’t working anymore. I went downhill fast. My cardiologist told me I’d need a heart transplant, but I didn’t expect it to happen when I was just 34.
By January 2022, things had gotten serious. After some bloodwork, I got a call from my transplant team telling me it was time. I was like, ‘what do you mean, it’s time?’ I had just four hours to get my stuff together and get to the hospital. Once I arrived, they started me on medicines because my kidneys and liver were failing fast. I spent over 30 days in the hospital, and around day five, I had to have a balloon pump to keep my heart going. I couldn’t get out of bed. By that point, I felt hopeless. I even wanted to go home and give up. But then, on February 22, 2022, I got the call that a heart was available.
I was scared, but at the same time, I felt like a prayer had been answered. I had my family and friends around me, and UNC’s team of psychologists and therapists were amazing. I had so much support. The day after the transplant, I was walking. A month later, I was walking a mile, and soon after, I started playing tennis again. It was incredible. I got my life back—a life I never had before.
While I bounced back quickly physically, the mental part was harder. I had to process the fact that someone had lost their life for me to live. My donor was a man around my age from Alabama named Chase. I didn’t know much more about him at first, but in 2023, I wrote a letter to his family, and they wrote back in November. I found out his name, and I got a tattoo with both of our initials—C for Camille and C for Chase—to honor him. His family wants to meet me, and I would love that. I try to live every day for him, working out daily and never taking anything for granted.
I am beyond grateful to Chase and his decision to become an organ donor. I want to live my life to the fullest for him and continue spreading the word about how important organ donation is. You can’t take your organs with you when you pass away, so why not leave a legacy that could save someone’s life?
75 or more lives can be saved and healed by one organ, eye, and tissue donor. Register your decision at honorbridge.org/registerme
