A Goal of Doing More in Honor of Her Donor

After receiving the gift of a new heart and lungs, 17-year-old Roza Saad strives to live a life that reflects the generosity of her donor.

Roza Saad is a driven young lady. She skipped the 12th grade to attend college earlier. Now, she is studying computer science as a freshman in college. Her long list of goals continues to grow.

“I’m currently organizing a blood drive and volunteering at a hospital gift shop,” she said. “After I graduate from college, I plan to open up my own company.”

The newest item on her list is to ride on the OneLegacy Donate Life float at the 136th Rose Parade in Pasadena, California, to promote the importance of organ donation. On Jan. 1, 2025, she will fulfill that goal in honor of her donor.

A double transplant for a new start

Back in early 2019, Roza’s mom, Baydaa, felt something fundamental was wrong because her daughter was continually out of breath and tired. After a battery of tests, Roza was diagnosed with pulmonary arterial hypertension, which meant that the blood pressure in her lungs was much higher than in the rest of her body. It is a condition that, if left untreated, could have dramatically shortened Roza’s life. 

In 2020, her situation worsened. Roza went into heart and lung failure, and it was necessary to put her on an extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) machine, an external artificial heart and lung bypass machine, to save her. ECMO kept her alive by circulating artificially oxygenated blood around her body. Roza had to be mechanically ventilated, so she was also intubated and heavily sedated.

Her only hope was a rare heart-lung transplant. Within a few days of being listed for organs, Roza got an offer for a heart and lungs from a compatible donor—something her family and Stanford Medicine Children’s Health medical team called a miracle.

“We were all aware that a transplant was the only thing that could save Roza. Suddenly we could offer it,” said Michael Ma, MD, division chief of Pediatric Cardiac Surgery. “It was thrilling to tell Roza’s family, ‘We can do this now.’”

Roza was only 13 years old at the time when she received her double transplant. She fought through unexpected complications and months of a difficult recovery. Today, as a flourishing college student, she said she looks back on those days and thinks, “I wish I knew there was a new life waiting for me.”

‘Let Your Life Soar’

Roza’s second chance at life has been shaped by the gift of the heart and lungs she received.

“She is always trying to do more because she got a heart and two lungs, so she wants to do something special, something different,” Baydaa said. 

Recently, Roza reunited with her care team at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford as they celebrated her for being one of the honorees on this year’s Donate Life float. The float’s theme is “Let Your Life Soar,” something Roza’s care team feels she exemplifies.

“To see her blossom into this really self-assured, composed, independent young lady has been so great,” said Cissy Xin Si, MD, medical director of Pediatric Lung and Heart-Lung Transplant. “Our whole team is so proud of her for coming such a long way since her transplants. Organs are rare. Not everyone is able to get a transplant, so for her to take this gift her donor gave her and really want to do something with it is really wonderful.”

Roza’s heart is filled with gratitude as she embraces this opportunity to provide hope to other patients waiting in hospitals across the country for their second chance at life.

“I want them to know there is a light at the end of the tunnel,” Roza said. “They are not alone in their journey. There are many people supporting them and thinking of them. Stay strong, keep fighting, and when you receive your transplant, live life to the fullest, and cherish every moment.”