Sharon Harbers

Sharon Harbers enjoys having fun with her niece and nephew, watching baseball games and visiting the theater and museums — activities the 36-year old struggled to do just a few years ago.

Born with cystic fibrosis, she contracted a bad case of pneumonia in 2000 that took her a year to recover from, during which her right lung began deteriorating. Before long, she spent much of her time in the hospital with only 30 percent air capacity. Transplant became her only option.

Ever the fighter, Sharon worked until the day her donor organs became available and returned to her office just six weeks after a successful double-lung transplant in May 2010.

“I feel fantastic,” she said thankfully. “I can now do things that used to make me short of breath, just the basic, everyday things.”

According to Sharon, her transplant really put things in perspective. “It’s not just you and your life,” she said. “I had to face that someone had to die in order for me to live — I’m so deeply appreciative that my donor family made that decision."