Mostafa Dakiri - Double Lung Transplant

Hi, my name is Kayla and I want to tell you about the strongest person I know - my dad. I’m sure everyone says that because it’s true, dads are the strongest, bravest and kindest people around. Today I need your help - my dad was diagnosed with IPF (Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis) which caused a severe decrease in his quality of life, resulting in a double lung transplant. Thanks to his hero donor, an incredible team at USF Health and Tampa General Hospital, my dad is currently recovering from getting his second chance to live.

This disease is extremely hard because there is not a lot of information about the cause, there is no cure and it cripples a persons ability to breathe. My dad has been on oxygen 24/7 for a while now - with a severe decline once a biopsy was done to confirm his diagnosis level and if he qualified for the transplant. After about a month of being on the list and after one rejected pair of lungs, my dad got a call as we arrived at the beach in Bradenton to watch the sunset while I was visiting him from MA (talk about perfect timing) - they found him a pair of lungs and we left for the hospital that night. 24 hours later, he went in for the surgery that would change his life (and ours) forever.

We could not be more grateful to the donor and their family for giving my dad his second chance. We will never be able to thank them or the surgeons, specialists, doctors and nurses to have helped him through this journey. But now comes the hard part (surprisingly right?) - my dad has not been able to work since before his diagnosis and my mom is now his full time caregiver - we have family and friends who have helped us before but his recovery is just starting and the bills will increase with every breath.

Every penny can help my dad and my family get through this chapter so he can spend the rest of his (new) life seeing his family grow with grandchildren, taking his wife on the honeymoon they never got, running in his first 5K and raising awareness and helping others with this horrible disease and so much more. My dad wants to be able to show others who feel as lost as he did when he got his diagnosis that while it’s never easy, having hope can help.

Thank you so much for reading our story and for helping my dad breathe again.

-Kayla Castellucci