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For Love of Life

© Megan Drummond

Laura Scott was a cranky baby. She would eat constantly but never gain weight. She would cry constantly and could rarely sleep for more than four hours at a time. Her parents were confounded.

At nine months of age, Laura was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis (CF), a deadly genetic disease that severely compromises lung function and digestion. Since she was adopted, Laura's parent's had no family medical history for their baby and had no knowledge of the disease. They were told that Laura would likely only survive to the age of one, and that it would be a miracle if she lived to five.

Laura lived to five and beyond. She attributes her longevity to an active life, including childhood gymnastics, dance and high school cheerleading.

After graduating from high school, Laura completed a year and a half at Colorado State University, earned an Associates degree from Red Rocks Community College and a Bachelor's from Colorado Christian University. After she completed her schooling, at 24, she was given one of the hardest decisions of her life. Receive a double-lung transplant or die.

At first, Laura wouldn't consider transplant. She hated the idea that someone else had to die so she could live. Worse than that, she hated the fact that, because she was so tiny, the donor would have to be a child.

Her fiancé Kent Ferris helped change her mind. After trying for months to hide her illness from Kent, Laura finally gave up and he learned all he could about the disease and treatments. Kent asked Laura to marry him while she was in the hospital battling a bout with pneumonia. The prospect of sharing the rest of her life with the man she loved prompted Laura to put her name on the transplant list.

On August 12, 1995, Laura received the all-important call that would give her new life. The family of a 14-year-old named Kristen, who had been struck by a car, looked through their grief to find the happiness they could give someone else. Ten months later, on June 1, 1996, Laura walked down the aisle to marry Kent and jet skied on her honeymoon in Barbados.

After a year and two months of carefree living with her new lungs, Laura's body began to reject one of them. She now faced the decision to undergo a re-transplant or cut short her newfound happiness. She went forward and on March 4, 2001, the day she finished her book, became the first recipient of a re-transplant at Denver's University Hospital.

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