A Long-Lasting Bond

December 2, 2020:

Friendships lasting nearly 50 years are incredibly rare and special.

In 1972, 17-year-old Deborah Labud’s brother sent her back home from Oklahoma to Florida on a bus, but she missed her connection in Alabama. She caught a ride with a truck driver to her friend’s house in Gainesville, Florida. That’s where she met Karen Rodgers, then 18 years old.

“We’ve been partners in crime ever since,” Karen said.

In the initial years of their friendship, Karen gave birth to her daughter, Angi. Deborah helped babysit. Deborah would later become pregnant with her first child, Amber, and she went into labor while at the movies with Karen. The two even ended up living in the same neighborhood, and their fathers knew one another through the Loyal Order of Moose, a fraternal service organization.

Deborah moved to Virginia after getting married, and they lost contact. Much happened during their time apart, though.

While in Virginia, Deborah suddenly began experiencing breathing troubles. After multiple doctors’ visits and misdiagnoses, at 36 years old, she was diagnosed with Alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency, a genetic lung and liver condition. In 1995, Deborah was put on oxygen 24 hours per day, seven days per week. She was later listed to wait for a lung transplant.

In Gainesville, Karen Rodgers had an emergency cesarean section to deliver her son in 1977. She went into surgical shock, requiring blood transfusions to survive. About 15 years later, Karen became sick. She was diagnosed with hepatitis non-A, non-B (now called hepatitis C). An ultrasound revealed her liver had shriveled and was not functioning. She urgently needed a liver transplant, which she received at UF Health Shands Hospital on November 17, 1996.

Deborah moved back to Gainesville. She stopped by Karen’s house to check on her, and both were in wheelchairs. Karen recently received her liver transplant, and Deborah was in need of a lung transplant. Their friendship picked up where it left off, but with a new profound connection. Deborah received her lung transplant at UF Health Shands Hospital on November 22, 2001.

“It’s really amazing to have a long-time friend with a transplant,” Deborah said. “We have so much in common. We’re more like family than friends. We travel, share motel rooms, talk tons. We know everything about one another. We share a very special bond.”

Road trips are their preferred way of travel, and Karen drives the entire way. Deborah and Karen have driven to Louisville, Pittsburg, Grand Rapids, Houston and Cleveland for the transplant games. They also flew to Madison, Wisconsin, to participate the Transplant Games of America. She participated in 2002 and 2004, then Karen became involved in 2006. The duo refers to themselves as “Thelma and Louise: on the road again,” having travelled together to six of the games. They compete in darts and bowling.and visit Karen’s family.

“Deb knows what we go through,” Karen said. “We have the same phobias about people, places, going around certain things. We look out for each other.”

Deborah and Karen volunteer together, too, and both are trained as LifeQuest Organ Recovery Services Ambassadors.

“When we volunteer together, we have a great time,” Deborah said. “We always explain it like, ‘I’m the lungs. She’s the liver.’ Then if we have a heart recipient or another recipient with us, we include them, too. People are always impressed with our stories.”

The duo hopes that through learning their journeys, more people will see the life-saving impact organ donation has. Karen’s liver has lasted more than 24 years, and Deborah received a second lung transplant, this time for her native lung, on November 28, 2018, at UF Health Shands Hospital.

“You never know if you or your family member will need a transplant,” Karen said. “Don’t take your organs with you when you pass because we need them here. Too many people die waiting for transplants.”