Grandfather Grateful to be Alive after Triple Organ Transplant

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CLEVELAND - Sixty-four-year-old Don Elliot is getting a second chance at life.

“It’s just amazing. I can breathe. I’m chasing the grandkids around,” said Don.

In February, he had a double lung, liver and kidney transplant.

“I had Alpha-1 antitrypsin, and it's a lung disease that starts on the liver then goes to the lungs,” he explained. “In the last year, it really went bad. I had liver failure, kidney failure and the lungs weren't very good.”

Given the severity of Don’s condition, his doctors decided his best option was to undergo a triple organ transplant, with all of the organs coming from the same donor.

“It's the first case that we've done at the Cleveland Clinic,” said Sameep Sehgal, MD, pulmonologist for Cleveland Clinic.

And only the fourth of its kind to ever be done nationally.

The grueling and complex surgery took 24 hours to complete.

“A single solid organ transplant in itself is very hard for anybody to get through, for their bodies to recover from, and a triple organ transplant is more so,” said Dr. Sehgal.

Don’s recovery was full of ups and downs, but he persevered, and he has his family to thank for that.

“It was rough, but I wasn’t going to give up. I knew what I had to do to stay here with my family," said Don.

He also credits his medical team and, of course, the donor.

If not for their selfless act, none of this would have been possible.

“I’m sorry the person had to become a donor. I’m a donor myself, and it’s a blessing to be able to help somebody else,” he said.