Alexa was diagnosed with an interstitial lung disease at about 6 1/2 years of age. Parents, Monica and Loren, noted that when she was running around the house and wrestling with her dad, she seemed to be short of breath.
Interstitial lung disease eventually affects one’s ability to breathe and get enough oxygen into the bloodstream. Alexa’s specific interstitial lung disease was never identified.
The disease began to progress and at the age of 13 Alexa was placed on the pediatric transplant waiting list. In order to live, she needed a new set of healthy lungs.
Due to the seriousness of Alexa’s condition, she was placed at the top of the pediatric waiting list. She was on oxygen 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
On July 15, 2004 at the age of 14, Alexa died very suddenly at home and in the arms of her parents. The call that lungs had become available never came.