This is the story of Tricia and Nathan Lawrenson. Tricia is a 26-year old woman who suffers from Cystic Fibrosis (like myself). During last year she experienced the normal end-stage CF decline in health and lung-function, which led to her having a work-up (assessment too see if you’re eligible for a transplant) for a lung transplant. However, during the work-up she was found to be pregnant, expecting their first child. Being pregnant rules out transplant, unless you opt for an abortion… which was not an option for them. The were told that there was a less than 50% chance of her and the baby surviving

So geared with their faith in God, the support of friends and family, and her doctors at Duke University Medical Centre, they embarked on an amazing journey, journaling every step of the way on their blog… Confessions of a CF husband. Their baby, Gwyneth Rose was born 15 weeks early when Tricia’s health had reached the stage that she couldn’t carry the baby anymore, and a c-section was performed.The next step was getting her in shape for transplant. The timing for transplant needs to be just right. A person has to be sick enough to need the transplant, but strong enough to endure the surgery and recovery. In Tricia’s case it was obviously the latter that was the problem, so they started building up her health, to the point at which she was ready to be listed, which finally happened on the 22nd of Febuary 2008...

Tricia received her lungs on the 2nd of April, on her husband’s birthday… She has been recovering well and got discharged from the hospital this week. It has been the first time she’s set foot out of the hospital since 27 December 2007. Gwyneth is also doing fantastically, and is now just over 40 weeks old, (15 weeks since birth), as her official due date was the 24th of April.

The blog has grabbed the attention of hundreds of thousands of readers, and has had more than 3,3 million hits, and has been nominated for various awards. Their story has also captured the attention of the media, and has given so many people hope- inspiring people in simmilar situation, lead people to renew their faith in God, and also to become organ donors. It is truly inspiring.