Duke softball coach issues plea for donors as family addresses husband’s transplant needs
Duke softball coach Marissa Young’s family entered a new phase of their health challenge this week as doctors determined her husband needs heart and kidney transplants.
Hospitalized in intensive care at Duke University Hospital for the past four weeks, Lamar had five surgeries for an undisclosed cardiovascular condition in early June.
Young posted an update on social media Thursday revealing Lamar had been placed on the waiting list for a heart and kidney transplants.
“Needless to say we still have a long road ahead of us but the path is now clear, which provides us some comfort,” Young said.
Just last week, Lamar’s condition appeared to be improving when he was removed from a ventilator on June 15 after 16 days of use. That allowed him to speak in a whisper to the couple’s son, Kayden, on his 13th birthday.
Since then, Lamar’s medical team put him and the family through the required qualification process for transplant list inclusion.
That included, Young said, physical and psychological evaluations as well as a financial assessment of the family’s ability to pay for the medications necessary for a successful transplant outcome.
Duke volunteer assistant softball coach Nicole Schaffer and Garrett Siemek, the team’s director of operations, set up a GoFundMe.com account earlier this month which has raised $22,426.
“Thank you to everyone who has rallied behind our GoFundMe,” Young said. “That was an important box to check in the process.”
Now, the important process of finding a match for a heart and a kidney is under way. Young issued a plea for people to join the National Donate Life Registry at www.registerme.org to help everyone who is in her family’s situation.
“We have met countless families here awaiting organs and many that have a second chance at life because of organ donations,” Young said. “So please please consider giving hope to others and saving lives.”
In the meantime, Young said Lamar “has valiantly fought to improve his ability to breathe at a more normal rate on his own supported by an oxygen mask.”
He’s going through physical therapy in an attempt to stand and walk again and use his hands and feet while also working with occupational therapy to regain his ability to talk and swallow water.
Lamar is president of the Durham-based Lady Dukes youth softball program, which has grown to include 165 teams for players ranging in age from 8-18.
Hired to start Duke’s softball program from scratch in 2015, the 41-year-old Young has led the Blue Devils to NCAA Tournament super regional appearances in each of the past two seasons. Duke has posted three consecutive seasons with 44 wins or more, including a school-record win total during a 48-12 season last spring.
But her attention this month has naturally been on her husband’s health emergency. Now that he’s in need of transplanted organs for long-term survival, the gravity of the situation is front of mind for her.
“It has also been challenging to wrestle with the reality that there has to be life lost for life to be gained,” Young said. “I empathize with all the families that lose loved ones that end up being organ transplant donors.”