IT'S A LUNG STORY
Kathlyn Chassey is a 25 year old living with Cystic Fibrosis. The disease had progressed to the point where she has to have a lung transplant or she would not survive.
Cystic Fibrosis is an inherited life-threatening disease that damages the lungs and the digestive system. Kathlyn was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis at 3 months old.
Kathlyn has been a friend to Peter Mayhew (Star Wars' Chewbacca) since she was seven years old. At eighty pounds and four foot ten she looks like a doll next to Peter's seven foot two inch height.
In 2009, when seeing Kathlyn and Peter together, family started a running joke naming Kathlyn "the Littlest Wookiee".
Chasing a Transplant
On November 2nd Kathlyn was admitted to Brooke Army Medical Center with trouble breathing, and by the end of November she had been placed on life support, her lungs no longer able to clean the carbon dioxide from her blood.
The Doctors warned Kathlyn's family that she was too high risk to receive a lung transplant and on November 28th she was told she had ten days to live.
Never Tell Her The Odds
A campaign began to find a surgeon that didn’t view Kathlyn as too high risk to receive a lung transplant.
Peter Mayhew and his wife Angie were contacted by J.R. Stoces, a retired NASA alumni with contacts at UCLA Medical Center, J.R. (or “Uncle Jerry” as he is now known) was able to get Kathlyn evaluated by Dr. Ardehali at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, Kathlyn's best hope for a lung transplant.
On December 12th Kathlyn and her family boarded a Military C-130 and were flown to Los Angeles for evaluation at UCLA.
On December 15th Kathlyn was notified that she was on the list to receive a lung transplant. Her status on life support and cystic fibrosis diagnosis places her at the top of the list.
Kat had a double lung transplant on December 26, 2017 at UCLA Medical Center. She now resides in her home town of Texas and continues her treatment both there and in Los Angeles.
On July 4th 2017, she returned to her home in San Antonio Tx. She Recieved her Wookiee suit on Monday May 14, 2018.
Her goals are to bring joy and happiness to those in need.