When Ally was 14 years old, she went to bed like any other teenager.

In the middle of the night, she suffered a stroke and was airlifted to UCSF. Within hours, our family learned that she had a rare form of pulmonary hypertension and was in end stage lung failure. We were told she needed a double lung transplant to survive.

Three weeks later, after being placed on ECMO and moved to the top of the transplant list because of how critically ill she was, Ally received her first double lung transplant.

It would not be her last.

Eight months later, she needed a second transplant.

Years later, she would need a third.

Each time, she chose courage.

Each time, she chose hope.

Each time, she fought.

Ally understood something that most people never have to think about. In order for someone to receive the gift of life through lung transplantation, another family must first experience unimaginable loss. Every transplant recipient lives in the tension of profound gratitude and profound grief.

Ally never referred to her donors as strangers.

She called them heroes.

While waiting for her hero, Ally believed you did everything in your power to prepare. You strengthened your body. You strengthened your mind. You strengthened your faith. You endured the fear, the uncertainty, and the waiting with as much courage as you could find.

After her third transplant at Duke University Hospital in 2018, Ally thrived. She exercised. She laughed easily. She moved to Tennessee. She encouraged others facing impossible odds. She became a source of hope within the transplant community and showed people that second chances, and even third chances, were possible.

When chronic rejection returned, Duke was willing to consider something that had never been done before: a fourth double lung transplant.

True to who she was, Ally prepared to fight again.

She worked harder than we had ever seen her work. She grew stronger physically and emotionally while waiting for the opportunity that might save her life once more.

In December 2024, she told us she was ready.

But before that transplant could happen, Ally contracted Influenza A. On February 7, 2025, she passed away.

Long before she left this earth, Ally had a dream.

She wanted to create a foundation that would bring hope to families walking the transplant journey. She knew firsthand the emotional and financial burden that comes with medical crises, extended hospital stays, and relocating far from home in pursuit of life-saving care.

She wanted families to spend less time worrying about bills and more time being present with the people they love.

She wanted them to know they were not alone.

We never had the chance to build this foundation with Ally by our side.

So now, we build it in her honor.

The ACJ Foundation exists to provide financial assistance, emotional support, and hope to families navigating the transplant journey and other life-altering medical challenges. Through fundraising, community support, and compassionate care, we help lighten the burden so families can focus on what matters most: loving, encouraging, and standing beside their loved ones through the fight of their lives.

This is Ally’s legacy.

A reminder that hope and heartbreak can exist together.

That courage is often quiet.

That miracles come in many forms.

And that even in the waiting, love endures.

Welcome to the ACJ Foundation.

We’re honored you’re here.