Retired nurse receives rare lung-liver transplant at Northwestern Memorial Hospital
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A retired nurse can breathe easier this Thanksgiving, thanks to a lung and liver transplant performed by his former coworkers.
Patricio Collera worked as a Northwestern Memorial Hospital nurse for several years. In 2019, he was diagnosed with lung and liver diseases.
Collera, 63, had to carry around oxygen tanks wherever he went.
Thanksgiving Day marks three months since he received the call that a new lung and liver were available.
"When I heard [Dr. Rade] Tomic says, 'Yes, we can do it. You're healthy. You're young. You're a very good candidate,' I still cry," Collera said.
The rare procedure was Northwestern Medicine's first successful lung-liver transplant.
Collera no longer relies on oxygen tanks.
