CULLMAN, Ala. – Hospitalized with COVID-19 in late July 2021, Cullman’s Jason McCollum, 49, overnight Friday and into Saturday received a double lung and heart transplant at UAB Hospital in Birmingham.
McCollum has spent the last 15 months fighting for his life after the virus ravaged his lungs, leaving him dependent first on a ventilator and then on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). ECMO is typically used for a matter of days or weeks, but for McCollum, it has been a staggering 14-plus months.
Months ago, McCollum, married and a father of three, was told he needed a double lung transplant to survive. Then, doctors said he needed a heart transplant as well.
On Oct. 24, McCollum posted to Instagram: “…I’m still trusting GOD in this 443 day journey! God has shown me love and healing were just waiting on the donor to be victorious! As I was reading my daily devotional today it stated: ‘NO MATTER WHAT your circumstances may be, you can find joy in my presence. It’s as simple as taking the next breath or steps. And on the days you feel overcast and gloomy, you feel strain of your journey which seems endless. Yet JOY is still attainable. And search for it as a hidden treasure. God created this day and to rejoice and be glad in it!’”
On Friday, Oct. 29, his wife Winafred McCollum received the life-changing news the family had waited so long to hear – organs were available for transplant and her husband was being prepped for surgery.
At the end of the lengthy surgery Saturday morning, Jason McCollum’s new heart and lungs were functioning and working well, according to social media posts by his family. Unfortunately, because he cannot be given anticoagulants because of ECMO, McCollum’s bleeding could not be controlled and he was taken back into surgery early Saturday.
His family shared that the surgery was successful and McCollum was listed in critical but stable condition. He is now on dialysis due to kidney failure but his doctors are hopeful that his kidneys will begin functioning again over the next several days.
His sister posted: “God has not brought Jason this far, to leave him now. We believe he will continue to fight even harder. #jasonstrong”
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