A 31 year old Nebraska rancher who recently underwent the first COVID related double lung transplant in the state says he is lucky to be alive and on the road to recovery. Jake Immink works on his family’s cattle ranch near Fairbury and was diagnosed with COVID-19 around Halloween. Immink’s brother, father and mother all tested positive for the virus and spent time in the hospital. But it was Jake who was hit incredibly hard. He spent more than 120 days on a ventilator, first at Bryan Medical Center in Lincoln and then at Nebraska Medical Center, where he was put on the list for a double lung transplant.
“I had no idea it was going to hit us this hard,” Immink says. “I had a fever and a cough but no trouble breathing. Then my mom noticed I wasn’t acting like myself and decided to measure my blood oxygen levels. They were low, so I was admitted to the hospital. I never imagined my condition would deteriorate so much I would need a lung transplant.”
Immink spent several months under the care of Nebraska Pulmonary Specialties providers at Bryan West Campus in Lincoln where he was placed on the ventilator. “I first saw Jake in November and by January he was still on the ventilator,” said Dr. Bill Johnson, pulmonologist with Nebraska Pulmonary Specialties. “I didn’t think he was going to get any better so I called Nebraska Medicine transplant pulmonologist Dr. Heather Strah and we talked about the possibility of a transplant. We agreed finding the appropriate COVID patient for a lung transplant was like finding a needle in a haystack. But Jake was that needle.”
Dr. Strah says Jake’s case was incredibly unique. “He was both sick and well at the same time. He had recovered from all of his severe COVID symptoms, but was left with chronic pulmonary fibrosis, which meant without a transplant, he would’ve been hospitalized on a ventilator for the rest of his life.” Dr. Strah said most COVID patients who get as sick as Jake don’t survive. “The fact that he lived through the acute part of COVID is a testament to the care he got at Bryan and how strong he was. Dr. Johnson was sure that Jake would be a good transplant candidate and he called me to advocate for Jake.” she said.
In order to qualify for the transplant, Immink needed to gain strength and lose weight. “I was going to do everything I possibly could to be eligible for the transplant,” said Immink. It was hard, especially being confined to a hospital room and hooked up to a ventilator, but I was determined to make it happen.”
Jake finally received his double lung transplant in March and says he is doing well. “I feel great. Every single day post surgery I feel better. I can breathe normal, I can breathe deep, it’s just incredible.”
Dr. Strah says this success story is a combination of Jake’s strength, his family’s support, his medical teams and quite a bit of luck.” If all continues to go well, Jake could leave the hospital as soon as next week. He’ll need to stay in Omaha to rehab for the next three months.