Don Neill is 59 years old. He has one child, the amazingly brilliant and also disabled little girl who stole hearts all over America this year as she sold almost 125,000 Girl Scout Cookies. He also has 2 really crappy lungs that need to be replaced. That's right, Don Neill needs a Double Lung Transplant.
If you know Don, you know he is a hard worker, loves his family, and will always help others whenever he can. You also know he is dedicated to his daughter, and his disabled partner, Luke.
The Neill Family is a unique family, who have overcome many life challenges. Luke often says that before the transplant need came up, the family already overcame just about every disaster and challenge that anyone can face. "Every challenge just made us stronger." The Neills relocated across the country from Idaho to Pennsylvania in 2023 after becoming homeless.
"Moving to Pennsylvania gave us better resources to care for our daughter, and for Luke's disabilities." Both Luke and Pim have seizures, and chronic pain disabilities. Luke will never drive, and the public bus system in Pennsylvania allows Luke more independence and allows Pim and Luke to do so much more.
We did not know, until last year, that Pittsburgh is home to UPMC Presbyterian Hospital, one of the best Lung Transplant Facilities in the world. Last year in May Don collapsed in a doorway, and he was taken to a hospital and admitted. That begun a shocking life change for the family.
When Pim was two, back in Idaho, Don got covid and was hospitalized. He was diagnosed with COPD and fell into a coma. When he finally went home, he was on oxygen for 8 months. His doctor on a follow up immediately recognized his skin cancer and was able to get him treatment quickly. Don continues yearly cancer checks, but has beat skin cancer, and we were so grateful for that outcome.
Now living in Pittsburgh and having another trip to the hospital resulting in an admission, and another critical medical crisis, the Neills have been forced to change everything they thought they knew about resilience and strength and overcoming. The strong healthy member of the family who was the strength and support for his family, would need more help and support than anyone imagined.
After the tests came back, we learned that Don's lungs were very weak. "Basically, we can get him better this time. But the truth is, he will get sick again, and he will be back. And someday when he comes back, he will not get better. " They told us that he met their criteria for a referral to the UPMC Presby Transplant team. "We believe his lungs have less than 2 years left."
When Don completed all of the steps that the hospital and Doctors at St Clair required for him to be referred to the UPMC Cardiothoracic Transplant Team, we made contact in June 2025. Upon scheduling the first appointments with them, we learned that transplants are nothing like you see on medical TV dramas. Because we live in Pittsburgh, we were able to do 5 days outpatient in Sept 2025 for Don to undergo appointments for scans, labs, exams, tests, and meetings about the process. We were finally given the requirements needed for the transplant team to refer Don to UNOS.
Don's life now includes 2 days a week of pulmonary rehab to build physical strength to undergo and recover from the transplant. He meets regularly with mental health therapists to manage the stress of the life changes; He sees his PCP for regular evaluations and progress updates; he sees his Pulmonologist and undergoes chest imaging every 3 months to measure how quickly his lungs are progressing in their deterioration. Don also has dentures, but he still has to undergo dental exams every 6 months to ensure he doesn't have any infections or cuts that could lead to issues during or after transplant. Don also meets with the transplant team regularly and undergoes whatever other labs and tests they order to monitor his progress.
Don Has officially completed every screening requirement to receive his lungs. Now we wait. There are an estimated 1000-1300 people on the waitlist for Lungs all over the USA. Every time a donor dies, their organs are evaluated and we just have to wait for the 'match'. This wait could be days, weeks, or months. But when we get the call, we need to be ready.
We are finally there.
As you can imagine, there are a lot of expenses with a transplant. Things like copays for appointments, medications, oxygen rentals, parking fees, gas to drive to and from. The bills are piling up, and Don and his family could use the support.
For Luke's family to fly out from Idaho, there is discounted housing on site at the hospital at a place called Family House. It's roughly $100 a night for them to stay. Having Family will mean they can help watch Pim, take her to and from school and her appointments, and emotionally support the Neills as they navigate this. Currently flights are around $1200 each way for Luke's parents to come together.
$10,000 will help cover flights to and from, a stay in Family house, and pay down some of the debt that is stacking up. We have regular household expenses like all families. We have exhausted our savings completely. Once Don gets the call, we want to be able to move quickly bringing family in and getting ready to start paying for medications and appointments post-transplant.
Don will not be able to drive for 6 months after transplant, and we will need to pay for lyfts for appointments, activities, grocery shopping, or whatever else.
You can also send money directly:
Venmo: @Donneill
Paypal: LucasAnorak@gmail.com
Zelle: 2089088028
The family has an amazon list that we will regularly update. You can also buy giftcards that can be used for groceries, expenses, and food delivery for making dinners easier.
Don will likely be in the hospital for 2 to 5 weeks post-transplant, and then he will have to go back to pulmonary rehab 4 days a week starting the day after he goes home. This will go on for 18 weeks.
Thank you for reading our story and helping to support us as we navigate this situation. Thank you for any support you can give.
Don's life goal is to see Pim graduate high school. All I want is for my partner to live forever. And Pim? She wants her dad to get better so he can take her to Disney someday.
