While she has spent most of her life in and out of hospitals, 27-year-old Caleigh Haber has vowed to remain positive.
Haber suffers from a genetic disease called cystic fibrosis, a condition that frequently gives her infections and sticky buildup of mucus in the lungs, pancreas, and other organs, according to Yahoo News. Doctors told her that she would need a double lung transplant to have a fighting chance at life, and in October 2015, she underwent the procedure, largely believed to have been successful.
With the good news, she was overjoyed that she could eventually enjoy a long and productive life with her boyfriend of one year, 25-year-old Bryan Takayama. The couple soon planned an engagement party and believed they could move forward with their relationship.
However, doctors would later inform Haber that her body had rejected the lungs and, to their dismay, her rapidly declining health would make another transplant extremely risky.
In an Instagram post, Haber relayed the bad news: “With low weight, failing kidneys, declining lung function, and diabetes the doctors’ medical expertise tells them I’m not a candidate for surviving a double lung transplant. If it was between giving myself and another person with better qualifications the single pair of lungs available, I too would be forced to agree that the more qualified person receive the lungs.”
Upon learning that Haber may not have as much time left as previously thought, the couple decided to turn their engagement party into a wedding — the two tied the knot in front of family and friends on Saturday.
“When you have a love as strong as we do one person’s downfall is also the others,” Haber was quoted as saying. “We ride the wave of life together no matter how large or scary. So tonight we’ve devised a plan to put all our last eggs into living.”
The couple’s friends made the event extra special and within just a week, transformed it into a fairytale wedding that she had always dreamed of, even going as far as to set up a GoFundMe page to raise enough funds to grant the couple not only a memorable wedding but also a fantastic honeymoon.
Haber expressed her appreciation, saying she was “overwhelmed with emotion that you have all supported us and shown us unconditional love. As we begin this journey sharing a life together it is so important to have a village behind us.”
While the goal for the fundraising campaign was set original $10,000 goal, the generosity of their beloved friends and kind-hearted strangers was so overwhelming that the amount has now exceeded the $25,000 mark.
The support has even inspired Haber to look into the possibility of trying another life-saving double-lung transplant.
Here’s the latest update posted on the campaign:
“Given the momentum we currently have, we want to take this opportunity to increase the funds raised to address the following:
1. Given state insurance, Caleigh does not have access to coverage in Hawaii. Treatments Caleigh will need include 24/7 on-call care, daily bolus of water for kidney hydration, blood labs to track anti-rejection levels, and any unexpected events that may occur
2. Pay it forward event – While enjoying the opportunity enabled by these funds, they would like to also use it as an opportunity to spread awareness by donating services/funds to a CF or transplant-related cause
3. Leftover funds will be utilized to cover Caleigh’s costly day to day medical requirements and what is to come with the possibility of a second life-saving double-lung transplant.”
2. Pay it forward event – While enjoying the opportunity enabled by these funds, they would like to also use it as an opportunity to spread awareness by donating services/funds to a CF or transplant-related cause
3. Leftover funds will be utilized to cover Caleigh’s costly day to day medical requirements and what is to come with the possibility of a second life-saving double-lung transplant.”
Images via Instagram / fight2breathe
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