Petyon Smith's answered prayers became the best birthday wish ever on Jan. 31 — the date his younger brother received the first-ever dual kidney-liver transplant at Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt.

In February, a frigid winter storm swept across the United States, causing widespread chaos — including power outages, water shortages and business shutdowns. Amid the disaster, many kidney transplant patients in Middle Tennessee did not receive deliveries of their immunosuppressant medications due to hazardous road conditions.

Zach Lloyd was only 37 years old with no pre-existing health conditions, but COVID-19 was bringing him within an inch of his life.

The heart transplant program at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt experienced back-to-back record years for the number of heart transplants performed.

The pediatric liver transplant program at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt continues to reach milestones — the most recent being named one of the best programs in the country.

Pam Everett-Smith celebrated a milestone this past November — 30 years since she received a lung transplant at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. She is the longest-surviving single-lung transplant patient known in the United States.

When a patient receives a new heart at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, that person also gains a new family, so to speak — the heart transplant team. Among the patient’s biggest advocates and supporters on that team is his or her post-transplant coordinator.