“A little Hélène
that won’t give up” O
unofficial spokesperson for organ and tissue donation, and the centre of a media storm. She is now known across Canada and beyond: a Google search produces 36 million results; over 16 thousand people follow her on Twitter; some of her appearances on YouTube have over 200,000 views.
n May 24, Hélène Campbell made her first public appearance since undergoing a double lung transplant seven weeks earlier. Sitting beside her parents, she spoke confidently to the television cameras and journalists gathered for the press conference at the Toronto General Hospital. “Going through this journey, has been an experience of a lifetime,” she began. She then spoke about her second chance at life, and her tremendous gratitude to her donor’s family. As she spoke, she smiled and laughed. And then, with her parents and her surgeons joining at her side, she danced.
Hélène was always curious about the world. While working at two jobs, and saving for university, she set out to read five different subjects a week—with the goal of being able to make conversation on any given topic. She realized there were so many fascinating things to study!
It was a moment of joy—and it was exactly what we had come to expect from the young Ottawa woman who has captured the hearts of people around the world with her indomitable spirit.
AS SHE SPOKE, SHE SMILED AND LAUGHED. AND THEN, WITH HER PARENTS AND HER SURGEONS JOINING AT HER SIDE, SHE DANCED.
Only a year and a half ago, she was studying abroad, thinking her shortness of breath was caused by asthma. In September 2011 she was diagnosed with a rare and deadly lung disease—idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis—and in the months that followed, her health deteriorated to the point where a double lung transplant was her only hope for survival. On April 6, 2012, Hélène underwent the long and gruelling procedure. In addition to the very profound medical circumstances Hélène has experienced, she has also gone from being known among friends and colleagues, to becoming the
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It’s not surprising that, when a friend suggested to Hélène they travel to Spain to study Spanish for six weeks, Hélène was easily convinced. While there, she took her inhalers dutifully, but never felt any improvement. She was out of breath, but chalked it up to being out of shape. While in Spain, the travel bug bit Hélène hard, and only three days after she arrived home, she asked her mom to drive her back to the airport. This time she was backpacking across England for two weeks. Hélène loved England. “I loved what I saw. What I felt wasn’t so good.” How could she
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have known that while lugging a 50-pound backpack around, she only had 26% lung capacity? When Hélène returned home, she had lost weight, and lost hair. She was always tired and cold. She coughed frequently. Yet somehow she still didn’t slow down. She was hiking with friends when she realized something was wrong; she simply couldn’t keep up with the others. One of her friends had to carry her. Her mom insisted she have a chest x-ray. Two days later a physician called Hélène and told her to present herself to emergency; her lungs had collapsed. But even then she was reluctant to slow down. She politely explained she had a friend visiting from California, and they were about to leave for Niagara Falls. She offered to go to the hospital after they returned. But the physician was adamant—this was serious; she needed to go to the hospital today. Hélène spent two weeks in hospital, and another two months undergoing various tests, before being diagnosed with advanced idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. Her lungs were like those of someone who had been a chain smoker for sixty years. Things began to change quickly for Hélène. She could no longer work, and she needed pulmonary rehabilitation. She needed to learn to slow down. Right then, she decided that while the disease would indeed slow her down, she would not let it bring her down.