For Lacy Cornelius Boyd, March 19, 2024, was an thrilling day. She and her husband had taken their 6-year-old daughter to the Grand Canyon as a part of a household street journey. Boyd, her husband and their daughter have been planning to cease at McDonald’s earlier than heading dwelling to Oklahoma.
Every thing was nicely — till their automotive hit a patch of black ice.
“We have been spinning. My husband clearly misplaced management, and he hit one other automotive head-on,” Boyd recalled. Every thing else was a blur.
Boyd’s daughter had a damaged arm. Her husband and the opposite driver have been high-quality. Boyd had damaged bones in her neck and ribs, a collapsed lung, and extreme accidents to her intestines. She had six surgical procedures in 5 days.
However the harm to her intestines — attributable to a too-tight seatbelt — stored getting worse, Boyd stated.
“They have been making an attempt to avoid wasting my intestines, and each time they might return in, they have been simply dying from no blood move,” Boyd stated. “I used to be informed that most individuals have 35 ft of small gut. I used to be left with about 35 inches.”
Lacy Cornelius Boyd
“Simply going by means of the motions”
Boyd was discharged from the hospital after a month. She was identified with brief bowel syndrome and had an ileostomy bag connected to her facet to gather waste. Her remaining intestines could not course of the vitamins from meals, so she wanted 12 hours of IV vitamin a day. She stated her daughter was afraid of the tubes, wires and medical machines that now stuffed their dwelling. Boyd was all the time weak and dehydrated, and by no means needed to depart the home.
“If I went out to eat someplace, I would be within the rest room instantly, or I would must go to the lavatory 5 instances at a restaurant, so it was simply embarrassing,” Boyd stated. “I felt like everybody was having fun with their life and I used to be simply going by means of the motions.”
Lacy Cornelius Boyd 
Boyd, who had beforehand labored in healthcare, repeatedly met with docs to see if her high quality of life might be improved. Nobody had solutions. Lastly, she adopted up on an unlikely lead. Throughout her hospitalization, a surgeon had informed Boyd’s sister she ought to contact the Cleveland Clinic.
Boyd self-referred herself to the hospital system in November 2024. She met with common surgeon Dr. Masato Fujiki and after an analysis, he recommended one thing she’d by no means heard of earlier than: An intestinal transplant.
“I began crying. I feel he thought I used to be unhappy, however I used to be actually blissful,” Boyd stated. “Everybody had informed me that was going to be my life.”
A uncommon, dangerous transplant
Intestinal transplants are a uncommon process, stated Dr. Adam Griesemer, a transplant surgeon at NYU Langone. Solely about 100 are achieved within the U.S. yearly, in comparison with the 25,000 kidney transplants achieved yearly, stated Fujiki, the director of Cleveland Clinic’s Intestinal Transplant Program.
Intestinal transplants have the worst outcomes of any kind of transplant, Griesemer stated, so there’s a “excessive threshold” for docs to think about them. They’re typically solely really helpful for youngsters born with intestinal defects and individuals who shall be depending on IV vitamin for the remainder of their lives, like Boyd, he stated.
Intestinal transplant sufferers “actually battle with rejection and infections,” Griesemer stated. Intestines harbor micro organism inside them, so throughout circumstances of organ rejection, the barrier stopping the micro organism from getting into the bloodstream breaks down. Fujiki stated rejection charges have been enhancing over the previous decade, estimating that it has decreased from 40% of circumstances to about 8%. Remedy may help scale back infections, he stated.
Solely about 50% of sufferers survive greater than 5 years after receiving the transplant, Griesemer stated. Compared, kidney transplants have a 98% five-year survival charge.
“Ready for the worst”
Boyd started the method of getting listed for an intestinal transplant in November. In July 2025, 16 months after the automotive crash, Boyd acquired the transplant on the Cleveland Clinic. The day of the operation was full of emotion, she stated.
“I used to be excited. I used to be nervous. I used to be unhappy about leaving my daughter, and I felt for the donor’s household,” Boyd stated. “However actually, I used to be ready for the worst.”
Lacy Cornelius Boyd 
The operation took about 12 hours, Fujiki stated. Every thing went easily. Nevertheless it was simply step one in a protracted course of: Boyd spent the subsequent three weeks recovering within the hospital, adopted by three months of outpatient restoration in Cleveland so she may keep close to her care crew for shut monitoring.
Boyd had no issues in her restoration, Fujiki stated. Her ostomy bag was eliminated. She now not wanted IV vitamin. The weekend earlier than Thanksgiving, she returned to Oklahoma.
“It was wonderful to have the ability to come dwelling,” Boyd stated.
A festive return dwelling
Boyd arrived dwelling simply in time for beloved vacation traditions. After lacking different milestones, like her daughter’s first day of faculty and Halloween, Boyd was relieved to be part of the celebrations.
“My daughter is six now, however my husband carries her to the Christmas tree each morning to get her presents. I do not understand how for much longer she’s going to let him try this,” Boyd stated. “I used to be like, ‘This yr is perhaps the final time, and I will miss it.’ However I did not.”
Boyd stays on a routine of anti-rejection drugs and can proceed to obtain follow-up care on the Cleveland Clinic. In any other case, normalcy reigns, and it feels just like the final of the trauma from the crash has been repaired, she stated.
“It is good to take my daughter to high school, decide her up, not have to fret about something, to take her and to have the ability to exit to eat. I could not drink Coke earlier than. I could not do regular issues for like, a yr and a half,” Boyd stated. “It is a lot. Everyone seems to be just a bit bit extra at peace.”
Lacy Cornelius Boyd 
