For two Adventist Church members, their prayers were answered at an Adventist hospital when a transplanted organ changed their lives. They represent thousands of people every year who are given a new opportunity at life, thanks to an organ donation. In fact, every hour, roughly 20 organs are transplanted somewhere in the world. In 2024 alone, the Global Observatory on Donation and Transplantation recorded approximately 174,000 such procedures with 47,000 coming from deceased donors.

A new beginning

Brazilian Adventist Jeanny Lory Linares has faced numerous challenges and organ transplant waiting lists. Her childhood was marked by health problems, and, years later her condition evolved into kidney failure, requiring hemodialysis treatments.

Linares grew up with faith and found it particularly helpful during her health challenges. Her faith gave her the courage to wait for a double pancreas and kidney transplant.

One day, she received a call that there was a possible organ available for her, but upon further testing and preparations, conditions were found that stopped the surgery.

"The first call is not always the last," Linares said. According to her, a person may receive several calls before an organ is actually available and suitable for transplantation.

A new perspective

Even though the first potential organ was unsuitable, Linares was not discouraged. The experience made her look at where she placed her hope and faith in a new way. "My life is a life of purpose with or without a transplant. My hope has to be in the Lord," she said.

One night, another call informed her that she needed to be in the hospital in the early hours of the morning. Certain that there was a suitable organ available, she arrived well before the scheduled time, and the transplant was performed.

Linares said an image remained in her mind: the containers that transported the organs. "I saw the cooler coming, and, at that moment, I understood the greatness of a donation. It's the life of someone who is inside, and it's what will give me quality of life," she said.

New life

After her recovery, Linares returned to activities that had once seemed simple but now had a new meaning. Feeling her body working properly brought with it a new perception of life. "I can go to the market and have a glass of coconut water, which I love, without having to worry," she said.

Linares explained that before the transplantation, she could only drink one and a half liters of fluids a day. Now, there is no limitation. "Today, there is a lightness but also concern for the organ. Because transplantation is another line of treatment, it is not a cure", she said.

Linares cannot return to her previous job due to her health condition, but she doesn't see it as all bad. "Today, I try to live one day at a time, fulfilling my purpose, my mission, and living for God. Not only to preserve myself or thank Him, but also to honor the decision of the donor's family," she said.

"I believe that faith is just that, it is seeing our fragility, otherwise there was no reason to have faith. My parents gave me a very strong foundation of trust in God. They have always shown me that a miracle is not just a cure, a miracle is all the care and providence of God," she said.

Waiting is also trusting

In 2023, Cibele Gonçalves Ferreira began to notice changes in her body. She didn't pay attention to those changes until her abdominal discomfort began to intensify. She decided it was time to seek medical attention.

After several tests and transfers from health units, she was diagnosed with autoimmune hepatitis, which soon progressed to advanced cirrhosis, severely compromising her liver. Ferreira needed a new liver and joined the transplant list.

Ferreira underwent exams, hospitalizations, and procedures while her name remained on the list of patients in need of a healthy liver. In January 2025, shortly before her birthday, the first possible transplant organ became available. The tests were compatible, but the donated organ was too large for her body.

A month later, a second compatible liver became available. However, this organ was also too large. Despite being an adult, Ferreira's name remained on the pediatric waiting list to accommodate her smaller frame.

Relying on prayer

Ferreira said that every time she was discouraged or anxious, ask God to help her through whatever problem arose. "But I trust as long as the Lord wants," she said.

At home, Ferreira became ill and had to be hospitalized. After almost a week in the hospital, she was scheduled for discharge. Before leaving, she prayed, "I said: 'God, I'm already here, this liver could well arrive, because I'm already tired of this back and forth. I can't interact properly with the Pathfinders or with the young people in the way I wanted.'"

On the day she was scheduled for discharge, the doctor entered the room to tell her a compatible liver of the right size had arrived and was waiting for her.

Ferreira felt hope, faith, and gratitude to God for listening to her.

The surgery was performed with some complications, and Ferreira's recovery was met with intensive care. She had to stay in the ICU after suffering multiple cardiac arrests and needing to be resuscitated. Additionally, she developed Guillain-Barré syndrome, a condition that compromised her movements and required rehabilitation.

Despite the additional challenges, Ferreira remained grateful and had faith that she would soon have a normal life.

"The doctors thought my organs would stop. But to their surprise and mine too, this did not happen. My legs are still a little weak, but I can walk and run. So far, the doctors have not been able to understand what happened," Ferreira said.

For Ferreira, her experience further reinforced her belief that God was present throughout the process, even in moments when she did not understand why she went through such challenges.

A historic milestone in Brazil

The first isolated intestine transplant in the state took place on September 5, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The patient, Viviane, underwent almost six hours of surgery at the Silvestre Adventist Hospital.

Viviane has Crohn's disease, a chronic and severe inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract, and was in intestinal failure. Prior to the organ transplant, she spent a decade in and out of hospitals and receiving surgeries to remove parts of the infected intestine.

Since the transplant, Viviane has shown good recovery and is able to manage simple tasks such as eating.

New opportunities

Felipe Pedreira Tavares de Mello is a doctor and abdominal transplant surgeon. He participated in the isolated intestine transplant at the Silvestre Adventist Hospital. He explained that in most cases the transplant represents the "last alternative in the face of a serious disease."

"It is when all treatment possibilities have already been tried without success, and there is hope of receiving a new organ," that an organ transplant is deemed necessary, said Dr. de Mello.

In addition to bringing hope, successful transplantation can provide a new life for the transplant recipient. "It restores health, autonomy, quality of life, and, above all, the possibility of returning to live normally", Dr. de Mello said.

Donation that saves

Before the possibility of a transplant, the patient who needs a new organ goes through hospitalizations, medications, uncertainties, treatments, and reconstructive surgeries. "This whole journey is extremely exhausting. In addition to deeply impacting not only the patient, but also his entire family," said Dr. de Mello.

When a family loses a loved one and decides to donate organs, they have a chance to shift their mindset from the pain of losing a loved one to the hope of helping others.

"It is a chain of solidarity that involves many people, and that is only possible thanks to this gesture of love," said Dr. de Mello.

A single donor can benefit up to eight people with organ transplantation. However, the number increases significantly when tissues such as corneas are also considered.

The original article was published on the South American Division news site.