The Pulmonary Hypertension Association’s (PHA’s) PHaces of Hope blog brings you the story of Daniel Kolopajlo, who lived with idiopathic pulmonary hypertension (PH) until a double lung transplant offered him new hope.

“I was diagnosed with Functional Class 4, idiopathic pulmonary hypertension (PH) on Sept. 1, 2011, exactly one year after moving from West Virginia to Florida. I was given a 2% chance of survival over a six-month period if treatment failed,” says Daniel. “In December 2013, knowing my future survival would mean a double lung transplant, we began our transition back to the Ohio Valley.”

After being accepted as a patient at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center’s Comprehensive Lung Center in Pittsburgh, Daniel started his PH therapy treatments to try and keep his quality of life in a good condition. Once his pulmonary pressures and cardiac indexes started to increase, however, he was in desperate need of a transplant.

Daniel’s story takes us on an emotional rollercoaster, as his hope for a new life is tested over and over in the search for viable lungs. Read more about Daniel’s journey.