LOS ANGELES (KABC) — Deron Wells has been fighting for months to get a double-lung transplant and had to battle his health insurance company in a saga that went viral.
Now in Chicago for the treatment, Wells received encouraging news after just two days on the transplant list. The husband and father of three got the call that a donor has been found for his transplant.
“I was super thrilled,” Wells’ wife Janet Savarimuthu said. “I didn’t know what to do. I told Deron. He was the first person I told.”
“He cried when I told him that he’s going to have the transplant,” Savarimuthu added.
A man battling stage 4 lung cancer was preparing to fly across the country for a life-changing double-lung transplant when his insurance company denied him coverage.
The 59-year-old has largely been sedated since he was flown from Los Angeles to Chicago to take part in a lung transplant clinical study at Northwestern Medicine for Stage 4 lung cancer.
Wells’ determination was clear after winning his fight for insurance coverage. His story went viral.
His critical condition makes him a priority on the transplant list, but he and his wife never thought they would get a call so soon.
“He was placed on the transplant list about two days ago,” Savarimuthu said. “We got the call two days later, and I’m super excited that we got this call so soon. I was not expecting it.”
As Wells prepares for the next challenge in his fight to get back to his family and his life, there is one person at the forefront of everyone’s mind.
“I have to thank the donor and the donor’s family so much for being so generous to give Deron a second chance at life,” Savarimuthu said.
Once the lungs are retrieved, they must be tested to see if they are a good match. Then it’s an eight-to-10-hour surgery.
Hopefully, by Friday night, Wells will be given the breath of a new life thanks to a stranger he will never forget.
A GoFundMe campaign has been set up to help Wells with ongoing medical expenses.
Copyright © 2025 KABC Television, LLC. All rights reserved.
