Danville Resident Told She’d 'Never Walk Again' Proves Doctors Wrong

(CTDN Release)

Some time on the morning of Sept. 21, Clare Dowling will take a step at Great America theme park in Santa Clara. Then she will take another.

“I’m walking because I was told I’d never be able to walk again,” she says.

She will participate in the Donate Life Run/Walk – calling attention to the 10,000 Northern Californians waiting for an organ transplant. Three years ago, she received a double-lung transplant.

In 2010, Dowling was young and healthy and attending Chico State University. Suddenly ill with pneumonia, she endured several bouts with breathing problems until lung disease slowly robbed the 18-year-old of her freedom.

“I was in bed every day not able to move, until after 31 days I was given the news that a pair of lungs was available for me,” she said

The best news of her life soon became an uphill struggle because she discovered that after being bed ridden for so long she was no longer able to move her limbs.
 
“I couldn’t walk; my body was so de-conditioned that it was immovable," she said.

Today she is healthy again and can attend school at UC Santa Barbara.

She enjoys horseback riding and never takes a step for granted. When asked about her donor she stated, “He or she saved my life and will always be my hero.”

Because of her hero Clare is walking at the 2013 Donate Life 5K at California’s Great America. Walk or run through a theme park on Sept. 21 Register today at: 5k.ctdn.org.