Patient Stories

Cornea Transplant - Joe
Corneal transplantation, which replaces a patient's damaged cornea with donor corneal tissue, is the most common and most successful type of human transplant surgery.

Berlin Heart – Penelope
Penelope Gordon was among those youngsters facing an uncertain future when she was airlifted to UCLA Mattel Children's Hospital after becoming desperately ill following a visit to her great-grandparent's house.

UCLA Organ Donation Goals

Patients such as Lois Tumanello, who received a successful lung transplant at 65, are proving that perhaps age does not always matter.

NY-to-LA Living-Donor Transplant Chain

Innovative donor chain performed at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center and Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center. 

Liver Transplant - Brian

Brian Hinsley is a firefighter-paramedic who was diagnosed with a terminal liver disease over eighteen years ago. With the relentless support from his wife and his faith, he battled the disease until he received a liver transplant at the age of 40.

Liver Transplant - Leiauna

Eight months into her pregnancy, Leiauna Anderson lost her child, and she almost lost her life as well. It took a liver transplant to save her.

Intestinal / Liver Transplant – Vinny Jesus & Roberta

In 1984, UCLA was one of a handful of centers in the U.S. that was ready to explore the field of heart transplantation at a time when the technologies and therapies required to support such an innovative program were still being refined.

Double Lung Liver Transplant - Jennifer

Jennifer Golden, a 19-year-old college student from Las Vegas, got her Christmas gift early this year — a pair of life-saving lungs and a liver at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center on Dec. 4

UCLA Performs 5000th Liver Transplant

On September 26, 2010, the UCLA Liver Transplant team performed their 5,000th liver transplantation.