BIRMINGHAM, Al. (WJHL) – A local 22-year-old has successfully undergone a double lung transplant.
Lexi Lester has been on ECMO life support since last August. Lester tested positive for COVID-19 at the end of July and then spent a few days at the Bristol Regional Medical Center before being placed on a ventilator.
She was taken to Vanderbilt University where she stayed for nine months and then transported to the hospital at the University of Alabama at Birmingham where she was put on the transplant list.
Lungs became available Saturday and she went into surgery for several hours after the new set arrived at UAB.
After the transplant, Lester still has a ways to go for recovery and is still at risk for infection, but her mother told News channel 11 that she is hopeful.
Doctors hope that she can try to walk in physical therapy soon.
