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COVID-19 complicates wait for life-saving organ transplants
During a global pandemic, being ready for an organ transplant means having more than just a suitcase packed. Author: Emily Longnecker Updated: 12:29 AM EST January 22, 2021
INDIANAPOLIS
In the interest of full disclosure, 13News reporter Emily Longnecker notes the woman in this story is a longtime friend. They grew up together in Pennsylvania and both ended up in Indianapolis. I haven t seen her since before COVID hit, Longnecker said. This past weekend, though, we ran into each other and I learned just how much the pandemic has changed her life in the past nine months.
- January 12, 2021, 2:59 PM
Indianapolis-based TxJet recorded a 29 percent increase in organ transplant transportation missions between 2018 and 2019. (Photo: TxJet)
When Covid-19 first made its way to the U.S. early last year, Indianapolis-based TxJet, like other charter operations, found itself in a demand slump. But it was a momentary pause because TxJet’s primary cargo is human organs and the medical teams that transplant them. Tx is an abbreviation used for organ transplantation in medical parlance.
“[It] was a challenge for us,” said TxJet COO Steve Johnson. “A lot of transplant programs, in the beginning, were frankly not transplanting because we didn’t understand the virus, we didn’t understand how we were safely going to transplant people. [But] we flew, and we kept flying [and] we’ve been able to come through this very well.”