Kayla Baker has a new lung.
The Cambridge teen entered surgery at Toronto’s SickKids Hospital around 1:30 a.m. Wednesday morning, and emerged as the recipient of a successful transplant.
“She’s not out of the woods, but she’s got hope,” says family friend Carol Thorman.
At St. Benedict Catholic Secondary School in Cambridge, where Baker attends school, teacher Theresa Kroetsch says she was overjoyed to hear the news from the family.
“When it came in around 1 a.m. that the lung had arrived and she was about to start surgery, I thought it was great,” she tells CTV.
“It’s what we’ve been waiting for. It was an incredible thing to see.”
Diagnosed with cancer as a baby, Baker’s chemotherapy treatments caused her to develop pulmonary fibrosis, a disease affecting her lungs.
She was placed on the transplant list in 2011, and was admitted to SickKids in January.
Ashlee Hardy, the 14-year-old’s best friend, says she was overjoyed with the news.
“It finally happened, and I was happy. She’s got that sense of relief now. All those plans and dreams that we have, we can do them,”
Hardy decorated Baker’s locker at St. Benedict with the green ribbons that had become a visible show of support for Baker throughout Cambridge.
Wednesday, similar green ribbons went up at Queen’s Park and SickKids in Toronto, as well as on Cameron Street in Kitchener.
While Baker’s friends and family are relieved she is recovering well from the surgery, they say it won’t stop their quest to draw attention to organ donation.
“You can’t take it with you, and you can give the gift of life. All over her ICU room it says ‘Be a donor, be a hero,’” says Kroetsch.
Wednesday, only hours after Baker’s surgery ended, her parents took part in the kickoff of a month-long campaign to raise awareness about the issue.
