Thinking outside the box to save a life: Chicago doctors repair lungs outside the body [Video]

CHICAGO — A Kentucky man with Stage 4 cancer was going downhill fast when a set of donor lungs became available.

But it turns out those lungs were damaged, not suitable for transplant.

Not giving up, Northwestern Medicine doctors decided to repair the lungs outside the body.

Once healthy, surgeons breathed a sigh of relief before transplanting the organs and saving a life.

Keith Zafren recalls the words his hometown doctor told him in 2022 after four years battling Stage 4 lung cancer.

“He said, ‘This is it. Like, this is the end of the line and we’re out of options,’” he said.

But his wife Lori Friesen had a dream.

“Lori just said, ‘There’s no way. We’re not taking that as our truth. There will be another way.’”

Enter the dream study at Northwestern Medicine.

“This felt like science fiction,” Lori Friesen said. “When we first heard about this, it didn’t even seem real. It didn’t seem possible.”

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