A Christmas Gift of Life: Dignity Health Norton Thoracic Institute’s youngest lung transplant patient celebrates her five year ‘lung-aversary’ and future in medicine

(PHOENIX -  Dec. 18, 2025) – Five years ago on Christmas Eve, while most families were preparing for the excitement of opening presents on Christmas morning, 15-year-old Tamelia Herbert and her family were celebrating the greatest gift of all. Their high school freshman was finally coming home after receiving a lifesaving double lung transplant at Dignity Health St. Joseph’s Norton Thoracic Institute in Phoenix, making her the youngest lung transplant recipient in program history. Today, the 20-year-old college student is thriving and looking back on her lifesaving journey and how it inspired her to pursue a career in medicine.

“I am so thankful to all of the doctors and nurses who helped save my life,” said Tamelia. “I couldn’t have made it through without their expertise and the love and encouragement of my family. I am the woman I am today because of them.”

In Fall 2020, Tamelia was a star volleyball and basketball player who competed on behalf of her high school teams located in Teec Nos Pos, Arizona which is part of the Navajo Nation. But, she started to have difficulty catching her breath. Doctors initially passed it off as asthma, but her condition took a drastic turn.

On October 9, she collapsed and she was rushed to her local hospital. Doctors found that she had an enlarged heart, and her lungs couldn’t hold oxygen. She was taken by ambulance to the Northern Navajo Medical Center in New Mexico, and was airlifted to a hospital in Phoenix the next morning where she was admitted to the intensive care unit.

It was there that her mother learned that Tamelia had pulmonary hypertension, a serious and progressive lung disorder from abnormally high blood pressure in the arteries that supply blood to the lungs. About a  week later, Tamelia’s lungs fully collapsed and she was put on life support where arrangements were made to transfer her to Dignity Health St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center’s renowned Norton Thoracic Institute for a lung transplant evaluation. 

“Pulmonary hypertension in young patients can be extremely aggressive,” said Dr. Leena Pawar, a pulmonologist at Norton Thoracic Institute. “When Tamelia arrived at St. Joseph’s her heart and lungs were under extreme stress. Our team determined that Tamelia would be a good candidate for a lung transplant and we placed her on the organ donation list. This was her last resort.” 

Eight days after she was listed, doctors found a donor match and that same evening, Dr. Michael Smith and his team performed the lifesaving procedure. 

“The average wait time for a lung transplant patient to find a donor match is approximately two weeks, which is significantly below the national average,” said Dr. Pawar. “We were extremely happy to find a match for Tamelia in an even shorter time period given the nature of her deteriorating condition.” 

Tamelia spent nearly eight weeks recovering and undergoing rehabilitation at St. Joseph’s. She and her mom spent Thanksgiving in the hospital with the hope of heading home by Christmas. 

“It was a very long few months,” said Tamelia. “But I worked so hard and my dream came true to be  discharged from the hospital on Christmas Eve. My lung transplant and the news that I was finally able to go home were the best gifts ever.”

 Since then, Tamelia graduated from high school and now attends Utah State University where she is working towards a degree in pharmacy. 

“My goal now is to give back to other patients the same way my medical team took care of me,” said Tamelia. “I have been so blessed and want to pay it forward.”

Tamelia returns to Norton Thoracic Institute annually for check ups where she and her family have a chance to catch up with the team who saved her life - a precious gift to the medical team who worked so hard to give her a second chance at life.

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