Stephanie & Sophia Ricci

Hi, my name is Stephanie and my daughter is Sophia. Sophia was diagnosed with Idiopathic Pulmonary Hypertension at the age of 8 months old. When Sophia was diagnosed we lived in Fort McMurray, Alberta. In 2012 when her health was deteriorating we moved to Edmonton. Sophia's treatment for her PH has always been out of the Stollery Children's Hospital where she received life saving care. Today, after a double lung transplant just over one year ago, Sophia still continues to receive care from this Hospital.

During her battle with Pulmonary Hypertension, Sophia was on triple therapy from a very early age of life. In 2015 she received the first Pott Shunt out of the Stollery and in August of 2019 she was listed as URGENT status for transplant. In August of 2023 after nearly 3.5 years on the waiting list, she received the gift of life.

Sophia's struggles with PH were awful, there were many complications with various things, we often were always working on adjusting to a new "normal" and just when we thought we had it, her health journey would change again.

Sophia is one year post transplant and the first three months post transplant were hard. Sophia worked everyday and continues to push forward in the work she must do to keep her precious lungs healthy. We are beyond fortunate and grateful to Sophia's PH team out of the Stollery who kept her alive while waiting for this gift. Sophia's team continues to be in our thoughts, along with our fellow friends still battling this awful disease. We are thankful for our transplant team who has supported not only Sophia, but our family during this new way of life. What needs to be said, always, thankful to Sophia's donor family for their selflessness and the gift of a second chance.