‘Saved my life’: Inside the house that became a home for lung transplant patients

A home in Edmonton's inner city is offering a place for out of towners to stay during a lung transplant. CTV News Edmonton's Amanda Anderson has the story.

An Edmonton house has quickly become a home away from home for out-of-towners awaiting lung transplants.

Teresa Spinelli opened “Casa Spinelli” in 2024. The four-suite bungalow sits five kilometres away from the University of Alberta, a prime location considering her guests are in one of only four cities in Canada that have a lung transplant program.

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“It’s a beautiful house. It’s a shame to have it empty,” the Italian Centre Shop president told CTV News Edmonton.

Leigh Allard, the Alberta Lung president and CEO, said it’s common for patients to take themselves off the lung transplant list due to limited locations. Currently, programs only exist in Edmonton, Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver.

“The surgery is free. But the added expenses of housing, food, medications, extra medications, parking, etc., it all adds up,” she told CTV News Edmonton.

That’s why Spinelli handles the cost of all accommodations for the guests in her home, which is fully furnished and comes with every possible amenity.

Because of this, people like Darry Kelly of Peace River, Alta., have a new outlook on their treatment options.

Kelly was diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis two years ago and needs a double lung transplant.

“I went off the deep end. I was selling everything. I put everything up for sale,” he recalled. “I didn’t want to burden my wife with all this stuff along with me passing away.”

Terry Neufeld, coming all the way from Regina, was in a similar boat. Now, he and Kelly are friends bound by the generosity of an Edmonton stranger.

“To be honest, I probably wouldn’t be here. I’m fairly low-income, and my doctor was always pushing me away from transplant because he knows I’m fairly low-income,” Neufeld told CTV News Edmonton.

“As soon as we found (Casa Spinelli), it was made so it was more affordable for us. That was the big thing that made this program available, and it’s kind of saved my life.”

“You’re living in somebody else’s house, but it’s like being at home,” Kelly added. “When you have that type of feeling, it takes a lot off your plate.”

To date, 75 families have used Casa Spinelli while they await a lung transplant, but 200 people sit on the waiting list.

Allard said Alberta Lung hopes to break ground on its own facility in 2026 to accommodate more people at a time.

In the meantime, Spinelli and her husband will continue to keep their doors open to those who need it, offering a safe space and even the occasional pizza when they come to check on their guests.

“I just think it’s a really great sense of community and that’s what it’s all about. About family. About community. It’s a gathering place,” Spinelli said.

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Amanda Anderson