A 20-year-old Ottawa woman is recovering from a much-needed lung transplant after raising awareness about organ donation on the Ellen DeGeneres show and receiving a retweet from Justin Bieber.
Helene Campbell said goodbye to her parents just before 1 a.m. at Toronto General Hospital as she was wheeled into the operating room for the seven-hour operation. Her surgeon, Dr. Tom Waddell, spoke to the media Friday afternoon, saying the operation was successful but she faces many hurdles in the next few days.
"She's critically ill, on a ventilator with life support," he said, noting the main issues transplant patients face in the first two days include bleeding, blood pressure, and lack of oxygen in the new lungs. "We haven't allowed her to wake up. We plan to (keep her sedated) probably for three or four days at least."
If Campbell's body rejects the new lungs, it will likely happen around the two-week mark, he said. And if not, she'll likely go on to live a full life – something that she couldn't have hoped for with her previous lungs.
"This is a treatment for people who are otherwise going to die," he said. "It's a wonderful opportunity to create a transformative experience."
Her father, Alan Campbell, issued a thank-you to all of the people who have supported his daughter in her quest to get new lungs, and to the family of the organ donor.
"I want to thank all the people who have been supporting her on her journey," he said, then turning his attention to Helene's doctors. "We feel very confident she's in the best hands."
Campbell developed idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis -- which hardens the tissue of the lungs -- last summer and the disorder severely damaged the organs in just a few months. She moved to Toronto in January with her parents while awaiting a transplant.
In recent days, her parents were worried as her condition deteriorated. She was admitted to hospital on Wednesday.
Just after midnight Friday, the family was notified a suitable pair of lungs had been found and she agreed to go ahead with the surgery.
In January, Campbell sent a tweet to Bieber asking him to spread the word about organ donation. He retweeted it to his more than 16 million followers.
That tweet worked as Ontario's Trillium Gift of Life Network saw an immediate spike in traffic to its beadonor.ca website.
The site also saw an increase in online organ donation registrations with close to 2,000 new users offering to become organ donors, CTVNews.ca reported in February.
That same month, she set her sights on DeGeneres.
Ellen, whose trademark dancing starts out every episode of her talk show, had asked her viewers to send in videos of themselves dancing. Campbell sent in a plea for organ donation awareness instead.
In a beautifully shot video, Campbell explained that while she wanted to dance, she couldn't because of her lung condition.
"I love dancing like you do and without getting a lung transplant, I won't be able to do it again," she said at the time.
She then explained why signing up to be an organ donor is so important, and that one organ donor can change the lives of as many as eight people.
At best, Campbell had hoped Ellen would mention organ donation on her show.
But she got a lot more than that.
On Feb. 16, Ellen's producers tricked Campbell by telling her that they wanted to set up a Skype interview by them. Instead, Ellen popped up on the camera, doing the interview herself in front of her studio audience.
Ellen told her three million or so viewers she was so moved by Campbell's video, she knew she wanted to meet the courageous 20-year-old.
"You actually are sending this out not to help yourself, but you want to help others," Ellen said. "And you asked me to help you get the message across, so I want to help you do that."
That wasn't the only promise Ellen made to Helene.
"I can't wait for you to have your transplant. And as soon as you do, we're going to fly you and your mom out here for our show. And I'd love to hang out with you backstage. We're going to dance together. We are going to dance together, you and me, okay?" she said.
The TV host was quick to wish Helene well on Friday.
"I'm so happy my friend Helene Campbell @alungstory was finally able to get her lungs," Ellen tweeted. "I'm sending lots of love and healing thoughts."
Last week Ontario's Lt.-Gov. David Onley awarded her for her efforts and on Friday praised her for changing the way people think about organ donations.
"She is not a person who thinks ‘why me?' and dwells on it. Instead, she has started the process really of raising awareness about organ donations, because unfortunately, in Toronto and in Ontario, our record of donating organs is not really very good at all," he told CTV Toronto.
With reporting by CTV Toronto's Austin Delaney
