On Saturday Saskatoon’s Jillian Langen, 28, finally met the family of the person who saved her life.
“It’s almost like meeting family that you didn’t know you had,” Langen told CTV Saskatoon.
Langen had been suffering from cystic fibrosis which had destroyed her lungs when she received a double lung transplant from 23-year-old Leanne Germain, who had died in Feb. 2016 of complications from taking the drug ecstasy.
The Germain family and Langen were first connected through an anonymous letter facilitated by Manitoba Transplant and after writing letters back and forth, the two families decided to meet in person.
More than 10 members of Germain’s family showed up, including Leanne’s mother, Linda, who was overwhelmed with emotion during the visit.
“When I gave Jillian a hug it’s like I could hear her breathe and know that she was breathing because of Leanne,” said Linda. “It was just overwhelming.”
Leanne’s twin sister Laura Germain was incredibly touched.
“This is the closest I’ve been physically to any part of [Leanne]. It’s so special. I never thought I’d get to be anywhere near any of her again,” she said.
Meanwhile Langen was happy to know more about the person who saved her.
“I just had so many questions about my donor and I would stay up at night thinking about what kind of person they were, who they were, how old they were, and to finally have all those answers in front of me was just like winning the lottery,” she said.
Leanne’s remains saved six lives after her family donated her heart, pancreas, liver and lungs.
With files from CTV Saskatoon’s Mark Vilani
