A new heart and a new kidney have given a 28-year-old Wilson woman a second chance at life. In late March, Crystal Sharpe became the 11th recipient of a heart and kidney transplant at UNC Hospitals. She had been ill with kidney problems since she was 7.
Andy Kiser, M.D., of the UNC Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery and UNC Center for Heart and Vascular Care, was Crystal’s heart transplant surgeon.
“She should begin to start living a normal life,” Dr. Kiser said. “She doesn’t have to do dialysis anymore, but we do have to continue monitoring her heart and kidney to make sure they are working as they should. She has such a wonderful attitude and a strong support network in her family. She is very dear to a lot of the staff because she was in the hospital so long. We are very optimistic she will do fine.”