00:00Lucinda Simpson is living the life she always dreamed of, a loving family and a fairy tale
00:12cottage in the mountains. Their milestones her parents were told she was unlikely to reach.
00:19When she was around one, her father noticed her skin tasted of salt when he kissed her,
00:25a sign of cystic fibrosis. They explained it to my parents and they said
00:30the likelihood of her surviving to five is pretty low. CF is a genetic condition that causes severe
00:38damage to the lungs, digestive system and other organs. Lucinda defied the bleak prognosis but by
00:46her early 20s she could hardly breathe. Probably when I was about 23 my health declined. If you
00:54think of a two litre milk container, basically I was breathing 30 mils. She'd started dating a young
01:03man called Damon. We literally bumped into each other, that's how we met. And together they braced
01:10as Lucinda waited for a transplant. She needed new lungs and a liver and for technical reasons
01:17surgeons also opted to replace her healthy heart. A bit like a car engine, they decided to lift all
01:24three out and replace all three. At Brisbane's Prince Charles Hospital, Lucinda became the first
01:31woman in Australia to have the triple, in a marathon operation lasting 12 hours.
01:37I remember it being a long night. These surgeries take many hours to do and it really starts with
01:44organ donation and you know that generous gift that we we have from anonymous donors.
01:49Lucinda was a very long procedure but we were a really cohesive team. I remember us working well
01:56with each other and a great outcome. Lucinda was now in a small club. A living heart donor.
02:05Recovering to marry Damon just 16 weeks later. The doctors who saved her by her side.
02:12But there were more medical feats to come. The couple longed to have a baby. A wish made difficult
02:19because of Lucinda's medications including vital anti-rejection drugs. Five different teams
02:26of doctors united to help them become parents.
02:31Baby Angus was born at 28 weeks, weighing just 832 grams. It's believed to be a world first.
02:39We have looked in the literature and we think she is pretty unique.
02:47Seven years later, Angus is thriving. And I think how did I grow him inside me and how is he here now?
02:55And I just think I'm incredibly lucky and blessed.
02:59Two decades since the triple transplant, Lucinda still takes hundreds of tablets each week.
03:05Her health is a credit to her discipline, doctors and one anonymous organ donor who they think about
03:14every day. She got the gift of life, she was able to give the gift of life and then we'll be able to
03:21create life all from one donor.
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