Jamaica Page received a much needed heart transplant in 2023 but when the new heart failed to work correctly, she was put on an ECMO (Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation) machine for seven weeks until a new heart became available. On March 25, a second donor’s healthy heart arrived and the transplant was successful. 

“This experience was one of the hardest things that I've ever had to do,” said Page at a media event. “However, I am so very grateful that we have the latest medical discoveries and state-of-the-art technologies, along with ECMO machines and exceptionally skilled nurses, ECMO techs and doctors that kept me alive while awaiting another transplant.”

Page joined other organ transplant recipients on Wednesday as Intermountain Health celebrated its adult organ transplant program during National Donate Life Month. 

The average wait for a liver is less than a month and a kidney transplant averages less than a year – one of the shortest wait times in the nation, according to Intermountain. 

From 2018 to 2024, the Intermountain Transplant Program has seen a 385% growth in liver transplants through the use of new cutting-edge technology.

This year, Intermountain Health became the first transplant center in the west to join the 34 Lives program, “where difficult to allocate kidneys are assessed by a novel normothermic perfusion technique allowing surgeons a chance to rescue kidneys that would otherwise be unused,” an Intermountain release said.

In addition to Page, other patients shared their success stories at the celebration. Jesica Treadway was a match to donate a kidney to her husband Dennis but key DNA markers were a mismatch so they decided to do a paired donation. Treadway donated her kidney to another patient and in turn Dennis received a kidney from an anonymous donor. 

“Without the paired exchange program, Dennis would have had to wait two-to-three years for a living donor, but he didn’t have those years to wait,” said Jesica. “We are so grateful that our three kids still have their dad, and I have my husband, all because of organ donation.”

“The success of Intermountain Health’s transplant program is due to all the passionate caregivers in the OR and in the clinic,” said Jean Botha, MD, medical director of Intermountain Health’s abdominal transplant program and Intermountain Primary Children’s Hospital’s pediatric transplant program. “But it’s also due to the very gracious donors and their families, for saying, ‘Yes,’ to organ donation.”

“Donation can make a difference in the lives of the more than 100,000 people who are on the waiting list for a new organ,” said Rami Alharethi, MD, medical director of the Intermountain Heart Transplant and Artificial Heart Program at Intermountain Medical Center. “Events like this shine a light on the lives saved and transformed by that generosity.”

“My donors gave me the most amazing gift anyone could ever receive, it’s truly indescribable,” said Page. “The future looks bright and full of joy.”