Hello all. My name is Sebastian Breanna Eubank and I was born July 2, 1993. After thirteen years of being “mysteriously” sick all the time, misdiagnosed several times, and in and out of hospitals, I was finally given the proper diagnosis of Cystic Fibrosis (CF). CF is a progressive genetic disease that causes persistent lung infections and limits the ability to breathe over time. CF affects mostly the lungs, but also affects the pancreas, liver, intestines, sinuses and sex organs. CF causes mucus to be thick and sticky; the mucus clogs the lungs (and other organs) over time and damages them. 

The life expectancy for someone with CF is 44 years old, although 55% of people with CF do not live past 18. As a result of CF, I have a very weak immune system which makes me prone to infections that have consistently damaged my lungs over time; most of the damage was done when I was struggling to get properly diagnosed. Most CF patients eventually get to a point where they need a transplant to stay alive.

At only 27 years old, I am at that point. I have tried everything in my power to hold off on transplant as long as I could, but my doctors and I agree it is my time to get a new set of lungs. I cannot take a lot of the Cystic Fibrosis medications that are on the market because they are specific for certain mutation types, and my mutations do not respond to them. I’ve been fighting to get on the transplant list since April of 2018 and was finally approved in August of 2020 after going back and forth with my physical and mental health.

Now that I’m active on the list, I am going to be incurring a lot of expenses in a very short amount of time. My primary caregiver for transplant is my darling grandmother, who will have to temporarily relocate from Tennessee to Indiana in order to take care of me during and after transplant. This is going to cost thousands of dollars between travel, lodging, medical, food, and other necessary expenses. Grandma is retired on a fixed income, and I am on disability unable to work. My fiancé, Joe, lost his job due to the COVID pandemic, and we are struggling every day to keep our head above water. More expenses are an overwhelming concept right now, and we all need help to get me the life-saving transplant I need.

I have always had issues asking people for help, now is no exception to that. So believe me when I say that even as a writer, I cannot even begin to put into words how much I appreciate every person who makes even the smallest of contributions to COTA in my honor.

The Children’s Organ Transplant Association (COTA) helps children who need a life-saving transplant by providing fundraising assistance and family support. COTA also works with individuals of any age with a single-gene disorder such as Polycystic Kidney Disease, Cystic Fibrosis or Sickle Cell Disease. COTA is the nation’s only fundraising organization solely dedicated to raising life-saving dollars in honor of transplant-needy families. 100% of each contribution made to COTA in honor of our patients helps meet transplant-related expenses. COTA’s services are free of charge and gifts to COTA are tax deductible to the fullest extent of the law.