A 51-year-old Manhattan Beach native who has been fighting for his life with COVID-19 complications has received a successful double lung transplant with the UCSF Medical Center Transplant Team.

Eric Dellenbach has been hospitalized since early January and received the double lung transplant on April 12. 

Dellenbach lives in Seattle with his wife Erika and twin 7-year-olds, but still has family members in Manhattan Beach and the South Bay. During Dellenbach's ordeal, his family has received overwhelming support from the Manhattan Beach community through a GoFundMe page that has served not only as a financial resource but also as a hub for reviving old connections and friendships and as a prayer circle for Dellenbach's recovery.

Sam Schacher, Dellenbach's sister-in-law and a spokesperson for the family, said that the double lung transplant surgery was a massive milestone in his recovery - after a long journey in which the family was told many times that they were out of options.

"Right now there's more than just hope; now there’s confidence and gratitude," she said. "I can’t express to you how grateful my family is. We have a whole new lease on life."

Schacher said that she hopes Dellenbach's story will raise awareness of both the potentially devastating effects of COVID-19, and of the importance of organ donation.

Dellenbach's ordeal began when he entered the hospital in Seattle in early January struggling with lung complications from COVID-19. Doctors soon concluded that he would not survive unless he was on a highly specialized ECMO (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation) life support machine. However, his hospital did not have an ECMO machine, and since those machines are in short supply, a patient has to qualify to be able to be placed on one.

The family located a different hospital in Seattle - Swedish Hospital's Cherry Hill Campus - where cardiologist Dr. John Mignone agreed that Dellenbach was a good candidate for the machine. ("If he didn’t believe that Eric would be a good fit for an ECMO, Eric’s story would have ended two months ago," said Schacher.)

At that point Dellenbach's family made the difficult decision to undergo a risky transport process to bring him there. During the process, Mignone also became one of Dellenbach's strongest advocates. He actually brought the ECMO machine to Eric - connecting him and then transporting him - because he believed Dellenbach would not make the transfer otherwise, said Schacher.

"ECMO runs the heart and the lungs, it's very complicated, and you need trained doctors and nurses to run it," said Schacher. Not many patients happen to be near a hospital with such a machine, or qualify to be on one, or even survive for very long on one. "You hope it’s a bridge to somewhere, but it can be a bridge to nowhere," she said. "You pray and hope that machine buys you time."

During the seven weeks that Dellenbach was on the ECMO machine, the family endured countless health scares, with medical professionals telling them that he was not likely to pull through. Eventually doctors decided that Dellenbach would need a double lung transplant to survive, but the prospect was once again risky.

Very few hospitals in the country are equipped to perform double lung transplants, and even fewer are willing to take on a COVID-19 patient because the disease is still so new and there are many unknowns. Furthermore, it was unclear if Dellenbach would meet the extremely strict qualifications for organ donations because the organs are in such short supply that doctors need to give them to patients who are most likely to survive the 12 to 15 hour surgery and recover.

Family members - several of whom also work in health care - made calls all around the country to find a hospital that would accept Dellenbach as a double lung transfer patient. Finally, led by Erika’s sister Monika who is an RN, they were able to make arrangements for him to go to UC San Francisco, despite another risky hospital transfer. "We were scared to airlift him but at that point there were no other options," said Schacher.

Once again, Mignone took the lead in advocating for and guiding the Dellenbach family through the process. Mignone accompanied Dellenbach on the air flight to UCSF to ensure that his patient received the best care. "Words can’t describe our gratitude to Dr. John," said Schacher.

Although organ transplant allocation is based on a complex series of factors, Dellenbach was deemed to be in the most grave condition and thus first on the priority list for transplant in San Francisco. He was at the medical center for about one week before a pair of lungs became available through a donor.

"Within that week, it was excruciating," said Schacher. "If he had developed another infection, or if any other organ had given up, he would have been de-listed. We were praying every day that something would happen. And on April 12th it was a go. They immediately took him, and the surgery was successful."

More than a week after the surgery, he is off the life support machinery and is slowly being weaned off a ventilator. Although he cannot talk or eat yet, he is able to mouth certain words and draw on a board - and the color has begun to return to his skin.

The GoFundMe, created by Dellenbach's college friend Monte Brem, has blown past its initial goals and has currently raised more than $132,000 with a goal of hitting $200,000. 

The campaign has brought out some of his oldest friends from elementary school and throughout his life in Manhattan Beach. (Dellenbach's mother still lives in Manhattan Beach and his brother Andy is CEO of the Jimmy Miller Foundation.)

"Your community of Manhattan Beach is without a doubt one of the most supportive, uplifting communities," said Schacher. "The support has been absolutely astounding. They just stepped up with everything. Everybody from under the sun in that community that knew Eric made sure that they were seen and heard supporting him and praying for him. But that goes to Eric’s character as well. If you treat people with love and respect, they want to return the favor."

Schacher emphasized that the GoFundMe page has been vital not just for financial support, but for emotional support, and for uniting those that know Dellenbach together in prayers.

"Every night we do prayer requests on that page. I'm not a hugely religious person, but this experience has changed my mind about prayer," said Schacher. "Every time we would put out a prayer request, the next day something [amazing] would happen."

Schacher continued, "The amount of love and light that has come from that page - It's been a lifesaver. It's been a lifeline."

The family's emotions right now are just "pure, pure, pure gratitude" for the UCSF transplant team, the organ donor, the support of the community, and especially their friend Dr. Payal Kohli who - even though she never met Eric - was one of his most staunch advocates, said Schacher.

She added that she is hoping that Dellenbach's story can provide awareness about both the possible complications of COVID-19 and about the critical need for organ donations. (April also happens to be National Donate Life Month to raise awareness of organ donations.)

"If we can make one person more cautious while we ride out this pandemic, that can save a life. If we can make one person a donor, that can save a life," she said.

Although it's difficult to estimate when Dellenbach will be released from the hospital because his circumstance is so rare, the family is confident that he will make it through the long road of recovery ahead.