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Rewind to 2020. Guy Jacobson, after chasing a friend on foot to make a payment, collapsed in his driveway and was unconscious for several seconds.

Local doctors referred him to a pulmonologist in Jackson. At the height of the COVID pandemic, seeing a specialist in Salt Lake would be four months out. Guy’s pulmonologist promised to “leave no stone unturned,” as his lungs were deteriorating very quickly, offering only 40 percent oxygen levels, and leaving him on supplemental oxygen day and night.

After months and months of exams and testing, Guy was diagnosed with Interstitial Lung Disease, Hypersensitive Pneumonitis with an Organic Antigen. At some point, he had inhaled something organic that caused his lungs to begin deteriorating. They didn’t know what it was or when it had happened, but it was literally taking his breath away.

With a terminal disease, Guy was “living life through a straw and tethered to an oxygen tank. He was on his way out.” He was taking strong doses of Prednisone as his team tried to stop the deterioration. His pulmonologist referred him to the �����г���Ƶ of Utah Huntsman Cancer Institute for a biopsy, which was conducted in December of 2020.

More medications meant a trip to SLC at least once a month, and sometimes twice a month. It paid off, though, and they were able to stop the advancement of the disease, but the deterioration was so significant that Guy was in need of a double-lung transplant. Soon. With the poor condition of his lungs, he would likely not survive more than a couple more years. 

Guy and Celeste quickly learned that getting on a transplant list is no cake walk. “We kept fighting for that. We met with his transplant team of five pulmonologists, other doctors and three or four nurses and coordinators at least once a month.” There were labs and x-rays every time he went in. He needed to lose weight he had gained over the last several months, which was no easy feat, considering his very conservative activity levels due to his lack of oxygen. For any transplant candidate, being in a healthy weight range is critical to the long-term success of the transplant.

“It was so scary. It just seemed like we were in slow motion, but it was happening so fast,” shared Celeste. “It’s really humbling. You are doing everything you can to live another day.”

Fortunately, Guy found a dietitian who helped him get to a healthy weight. He followed the diet guidelines with exactness, lost 80 pounds in eight months, and qualified for the transplant list on September 27, 2022. “If I didn’t lose weight, I was going to die, so I decided I better do a little losing weight. It was tough, but I wasn’t as tough as I thought.”

Halloween of 2022 included a regular visit with his team in SLC. They knew the drill, and everything still looked good for transplant. “He was healthy in every way – just the lungs were shot,” Celeste admitted. His nurse coordinator said, “You be ready.”

So, the next day, on the evening of his 59th birthday, Guy and Celeste left their home with faith and a prayer in their hearts that this would be the day they had hoped and prayed for. They left the world at home and their business in the hands of loved ones and their trusted family of employees. “We had so many family members and friends praying for us and pulling for us and asking how they could help.”

Celeste remembers those days and the drive south through that clear, crisp fall evening. “The moon was full. We saw a shooting star and there were all these tiny miracles – I can’t even tell you how many spiritual moments. How grateful we are to Heavenly Father and Jesus. It really puts life in perspective, real quick. It’s like, how do you pray for his wellbeing, knowing good and well that someone is going to be giving up their life for this to happen? That there is a family on the other side of this grieving a loved one?”

Their sons, Hunter and Sage, arrived in Salt Lake an hour behind them, and the family gathered for a few precious moments of prayer and expressions of love and faith. Guy’s brothers arrived and gave him a priesthood blessing, a practice cherished by members of their faith who are seeking God’s hand in times of crisis. Then, he was taken and prepped for what would be the birth of a prolonged life without an oxygen tank, and with a whole body, with every organ serving him fully.

In those moments, Celeste says she went through a roller coaster of emotions. Anger, grief, frustration. Then, she recognized Guy’s positive strength and resilience, and determined to follow his example. “It’s so hard to see someone you love like that and there is not a thing you can do. You just keep doing.”