Saving One’s Breath : Matador Football Player Donates Part of Lung to Save Sister

Watching Cal State Northridge football practice is not easy for Frank Millan.

Then again, neither is breathing.

But Millan can take comfort knowing that in a few months he will be back on the field with his teammates and will be able to breathe freely.

And his sister will be alive.

Millan, a walk-on running back and special teams player, left the Matadors a few weeks ago because his 11-year-old sister, Katie, was diagnosed with high-blood pressure in her lungs and needed a transplant to save her life.

Millan, 21, and his father, the only family members who matched Katie’s blood type, each had a lobe of one of their lungs removed and transplanted into Katie.

“It was kind of scary,” Millan said. “There is a little unknown. I knew in the long run it was for the best. It was my little sister. And I’d do anything for her.”

The March 23 operation was a success, and Katie might come home from the hospital this weekend.

But first she is in for a treat while still in the hospital. Katie’s room is among the scheduled stops for Millan and his Northridge teammates and coaches when they visit Childrens Hospital Los Angeles at 4 p.m. today. Chicago Bear quarterback Erik Kramer and former Pittsburgh Steeler running back Merrill Hodge also are expected to stop by.

Millan, it seems, is recovering well too.

“Breathing gets easier and easier every day,” he said. “Right now it just feels like I’ve been out swimming on a real smoggy day.”

What mostly bothers Millan is that he can’t play football. He watches practices from the sideline, trying to help out without exerting too much.

The Matadors play their final spring-practice scrimmage Saturday night, but Millan, a transfer from Mt. San Antonio College, knows his inability to participate is a small price to pay.

Millan is the oldest of five children; Katie is the youngest. The family, which resides in Montebello, was rocked on New Year’s Eve by the news that Katie had primary pulmonary hypertension. Her lungs were forcing blood into her heart, causing damage. The cause is unknown.

Katie was temporarily treated with medication that controlled the high-blood pressure, but her body soon developed an immunity to the drugs.

Doctors decided Katie needed a lung transplant to correct the condition before it did any further damage to her heart. On March 21, everyone in the family was tested for a match. Two days later, Millan and his father were on their sides on an operating table, having lobes of their lungs removed to be implanted into Katie. Most people have five lobes, two in the left lung and three in the right.

Millan, a junior biology major, spent about a week in the hospital recovering from post-surgical pain and getting used to his reduced--but still ample--lung capacity. He expects to be breathing normally in a month.

And his sister?

“This is it,” he said. “This should help her out completely. I knew everything was going to work out for the best.”