Katie Couric: The Power Of Two Review
Twins have one of the most powerful connections in the world and Anabel and Isabel, twin sisters, proved there is nothing that can stop two twins who just have each other. Both of the girls were born with cystic fibrosis and told Katie Couric they shared everything, even the disease, as they grew up. As they got older they were spending more time in the hospital, always in the same room. But the disease did not bear down on the young girls. They stuck together becoming each other’s best friend, teacher, therapist and anything else the other one needed.
In 1997 they were both put on the waiting list for a lung transplant and they both had a lung capacity of about 30 percent at that point in their lives, at age 25. Around this time they decided to start filming their adventure in a documentary, The Power of Two. Sometime after getting on the waiting list, both the sisters were able to get successful lung transplants which allowed them to travel the world like they had always wanted when they were children.
Katie talked with two sisters, twins who both have cystic fibrosis, about getting lung transplants and filming their documentary The Power of Two.
“The bond we have was strengthened by the illness,” Isabel said. “We had to get along. We had to work together.” Anabel echoed her sister’s statement saying, “We had each other and that was why we beat it.”
Katie Couric: Cystic Fibrosis In Twin Sisters
Anabel told Katie Couric cystic fibrosis is a genetic disorder which causes a salt and water imbalance in the cells causing thick mucus to build up in the lungs which in turn causes infections. There is no known cure for the illness and lung transplants are often the final and only resort possible.
Although it was often considered fatal when the twins were born, they said it is now listed as a chronic disease. Lots of different studies are taking place trying to find a cure and many have been showing promising treatments. But with 19 people dying every day waiting for a organ transplants, the sisters have become advocates for organ donations and have been doing all they can to help people receive their transplants before their disease or any other takes another life.
Katie Couric: Lung Transplant Recipients Meet Family Of Organ Donor
Isabel said not many organ recipients meet the organ donor or the donor’s family, but she said she met the family of her donor in 2006. She found out he was an 18-year-old man who had died in a car crash and today, February 6 2013, was her nine year anniversary of receiving her lung transplant.
Anabel said she has had to undergo two lung transplants and she only met one of the donors saying he was a man from Oregon, although she didn’t elaborate.
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