By Kurt Lewis
The Haldimand Press
CALEDONIA—Tanika Jacobs returned home on May 15, 2020 after receiving her second double-lung transplant earlier this year.
In March 2016, Tanika was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes after being rushed to the hospital, struggling to breathe, aspirating into her lungs, and in septic shock. Ultimately, she had to have her right leg amputated and a double-lung transplant. In 2018, Tanika underwent antibody rejection. She spent an entire year at Sick Kids Hospital in Toronto and Emily’s House Palliative Care. It was unsure if a second transplant would work, as Tanika was very fragile, and the family was preparing for a potential end-of-life situation.
On March 11, 2020 however, she received her second double-lung transplant, and she recently returned home to the socially-distant festivities of her Gateway Church family and friends.