Double transplant recipient returns to Pittsburgh for NFL Draft

Brooke Sturgis, an NFL events coordinator and double transplant recipient, will be back in Pittsburgh, reflecting on her journey of survival and gratitude as she works on the 2026 NFL draft.”As someone who went through so much for so many months, I thought to myself, I want to be in a world that brings a smile to people’s face and that I can have a part in making someone’s day better,” Sturgis said.Sturgis decided to work as an events coordinator for the National Football League, a career that is bringing her to her hometown for the draft.”It’s so surreal to come back to Pittsburgh and not only work this draft but be a part of the planning, and it truly is something that makes me so incredibly emotional to even think about,” she said.Sturgis shared how meaningful it is to give back to the community that played a vital role in her survival.”To be able to show up and give back to the community that saved my life in so many ways, emotionally and physically, is truly the one thing I think that’s making me so emotional to think about,” she said. She spoke about the significance of her transplants and the responsibility she feels to honor her donors.”I’m a double transplant patient. I have a heart from a donor, a young man who was robbed of his life, and a kidney from my mother. And I don’t see that as not a responsibility to achieve these big dreams for them, but a privilege,” Sturgis said. Reflecting on her journey, she said it transcends football and the draft. “I think that’s what really makes me want to cry thinking about because it is so special and it’s so much bigger than football, and it’s so much bigger than the draft. And it is it feels like I’m giving back to this community that did so much for me,” she said. Her health struggles began on June 15, 2021, when she developed chest pain and was rushed to the hospital.”Everything felt so good. And in that same night, I started to develop chest pain,” Sturgis said. She recalled the chaotic moments at the hospital.”I remember these flashes of white coats — like, 15 of them, just running,” she said.”It was one of the scariest moments of my life. I had no idea what was going on, and before I knew it, it all went black.”When she woke up days later, she learned she needed a heart transplant. A donor heart became available within 48 hours, and after the surgery, she discovered she also needed a kidney transplant due to acute kidney failure. “They tell me, ‘Everything went great with your heart, although you went into cardiogenic shock prior to all of this, and because of that, your kidneys took a massive hit and now we have to place you on dialysis,'” Sturgis said, recalling her diagnosis in November.The community rallied around her, and on Christmas Eve, she received life-changing news.”I call it my Christmas miracle, that my mother could donate her kidney to me,” she said. “I remember being with my entire extended family getting the call, and we all just cried.”A kidney transplant scheduled for January 2022 was delayed when Sturgis contracted COVID-19 two days before the procedure. Faced with life-threatening complications, she endured months of dialysis.”I was 85 pounds. I could barely walk. Dialysis was hurting my body so bad because I was so frail,” she said. “Every time I would be in dialysis, I would be throwing up, I would get horrible headaches. One time I had a seizure.”Five days after her 20th birthday, Sturgis finally received her kidney transplant.”I always say I got the news on Christmas, and then I received my kidney as my actual birthday gift,” she said.The transplant brought her a new sense of freedom.”For 11 months of my life, I didn’t know what it was like to have a functioning and working body. And when I woke up, I didn’t even have to ask them if it worked. I knew it, and I felt it that my body was working,” Sturgis said.She described her new outlook on life as a tunnel no longer filled with darkness but with light and hope.”I am living for them, and what an honor,” she said.Sturgis said her job with the NFL is meaningful, but her greatest privilege is carrying on the legacy of her donors.”I do love my job here more than anything in the world, but I also have the coolest job, and that is to be able to carry on someone else’s life and someone else’s legacy and to bring my donor’s heart to places he didn’t get to go,” she said. Gavin Hickey, director of the Cardiogenic Shock Program at UPMC, praised Sturgis for her resilience.”Brooke, I’m just so proud of everything you have persevered through, and the wonderful person you’ve become and the career you’ve developed,” Hickey said.

PITTSBURGH —

Brooke Sturgis, an NFL events coordinator and double transplant recipient, will be back in Pittsburgh, reflecting on her journey of survival and gratitude as she works on the 2026 NFL draft.

“As someone who went through so much for so many months, I thought to myself, I want to be in a world that brings a smile to people’s face and that I can have a part in making someone’s day better,” Sturgis said.

Sturgis decided to work as an events coordinator for the National Football League, a career that is bringing her to her hometown for the draft.

“It’s so surreal to come back to Pittsburgh and not only work this draft but be a part of the planning, and it truly is something that makes me so incredibly emotional to even think about,” she said.

Sturgis shared how meaningful it is to give back to the community that played a vital role in her survival.

“To be able to show up and give back to the community that saved my life in so many ways, emotionally and physically, is truly the one thing I think that’s making me so emotional to think about,” she said.

She spoke about the significance of her transplants and the responsibility she feels to honor her donors.

“I’m a double transplant patient. I have a heart from a donor, a young man who was robbed of his life, and a kidney from my mother. And I don’t see that as not a responsibility to achieve these big dreams for them, but a privilege,” Sturgis said.

Reflecting on her journey, she said it transcends football and the draft. “I think that’s what really makes me want to cry thinking about because it is so special and it’s so much bigger than football, and it’s so much bigger than the draft. And it is it feels like I’m giving back to this community that did so much for me,” she said.

Her health struggles began on June 15, 2021, when she developed chest pain and was rushed to the hospital.

“Everything felt so good. And in that same night, I started to develop chest pain,” Sturgis said.

She recalled the chaotic moments at the hospital.

“I remember these flashes of white coats — like, 15 of them, just running,” she said.

“It was one of the scariest moments of my life. I had no idea what was going on, and before I knew it, it all went black.”

When she woke up days later, she learned she needed a heart transplant. A donor heart became available within 48 hours, and after the surgery, she discovered she also needed a kidney transplant due to acute kidney failure.

“They tell me, ‘Everything went great with your heart, although you went into cardiogenic shock prior to all of this, and because of that, your kidneys took a massive hit and now we have to place you on dialysis,'” Sturgis said, recalling her diagnosis in November.

The community rallied around her, and on Christmas Eve, she received life-changing news.

“I call it my Christmas miracle, that my mother could donate her kidney to me,” she said. “I remember being with my entire extended family getting the call, and we all just cried.”

A kidney transplant scheduled for January 2022 was delayed when Sturgis contracted COVID-19 two days before the procedure. Faced with life-threatening complications, she endured months of dialysis.

“I was 85 pounds. I could barely walk. Dialysis was hurting my body so bad because I was so frail,” she said. “Every time I would be in dialysis, I would be throwing up, I would get horrible headaches. One time I had a seizure.”

Five days after her 20th birthday, Sturgis finally received her kidney transplant.

“I always say I got the news on Christmas, and then I received my kidney as my actual birthday gift,” she said.

The transplant brought her a new sense of freedom.

“For 11 months of my life, I didn’t know what it was like to have a functioning and working body. And when I woke up, I didn’t even have to ask them if it worked. I knew it, and I felt it that my body was working,” Sturgis said.

She described her new outlook on life as a tunnel no longer filled with darkness but with light and hope.

“I am living for them, and what an honor,” she said.

Sturgis said her job with the NFL is meaningful, but her greatest privilege is carrying on the legacy of her donors.

“I do love my job here more than anything in the world, but I also have the coolest job, and that is to be able to carry on someone else’s life and someone else’s legacy and to bring my donor’s heart to places he didn’t get to go,” she said.

Gavin Hickey, director of the Cardiogenic Shock Program at UPMC, praised Sturgis for her resilience.

“Brooke, I’m just so proud of everything you have persevered through, and the wonderful person you’ve become and the career you’ve developed,” Hickey said.