It was about six months ago that my wife and I watched 65_RedRoses as part of CBC Newsworld's Passionate Eye documentary series. 65_RedRoses featured the courageous and inspiring Eva Markvoort who was living with Cystic Fibrosis and needed a lung transplant to survive.
Here's the trailer for this excellent documentary.
I'll never forget the scene when Eva's pager went off, telling her she was getting her transplant. The documentary ended on a positive note. Eva got her transplant, and seemed to be doing better. Sadly, her body rejected it and she passed away yesterday morning.
She blogged about her experience living with CF at http://65redroses.livejournal.com/ and left this heartbreaking message on Thursday. She called this entry "i can't breathe".
i'm at that point now
i'm done with the poetics
asking for help
my sister is helping me write
actually helping me write
the medications have been piling up
they are taking their toll
i am supersaturated with medications
i've been medically missing in action for two days
the docs started taking me off some of them to see how i would manage
and i am not managing
not managing at all
i'm drowning in the medications
i can't breathe
every hour
once an hour
i can't breathe
something has to change
Here she is receiving the 2010 Summerhayes Award in room 450 at Vancouver General Hospital. She was only 25 years old.
This story breaks my heart. I don't know how I'm going to tell my wife.
