A new documentary television series premiering Sept. 22 profiles the life-saving stories of organ transplant patients at Vanderbilt Transplant Center. The internationally renowned center performed a record number of solid organ transplants in fiscal year 2021—637 life-saving procedures among its adult and pediatric programs—despite occurring entirely during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Robin Roberts, anchor of ABC’s "Good Morning America," is a partner in the original series, "Last Chance Transplant." She is a double stem-cell transplant patient.
“My journey with MDS and my bone marrow transplant was one of the toughest fights of my life,” Roberts said. “Thanks to my sister and bone marrow donor Sally-Ann as well as my doctors, nurses, family and friends, I was able to focus on the fight and not the fright. I am honored to share the stories of six courageous individuals as they await a life-saving transplant and the team of people who lift them up along the way. Their determination is truly inspiring.”
The series will premiere on discovery+, the streaming platform of Discovery Inc.
For months, film crews followed six very sick patients who were each waiting for a life-saving organ donor for either a liver, kidney, heart or lungs; or in some cases, multiple organs. One of the featured patients received the world’s first heart and double lung transplant during the COVID-19 pandemic. Another transplant featured what is possibly the world’s first heart and liver transplant in an adult Down syndrome patient.
Learn more about the series in this article, and watch a preview here.