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65 Red Roses :: Every Breath Counts

Eva Markoot is the star of 65 Red Roses, a documentary film based on the real-life story of Eva’s quest for a double-lung transplant. Find out more about this movie, which is becoming an international sensation, as well as about Eva and why more people should become organ donors.

Eva Markoot: 65 Red Roses

Eva in hospital

Cystic Fibrosis

You may wonder why anyone, especially anyone as young as Eva, would need a double-lung transplant. Well, in Eva’s case, it was because she suffered from a condition called cystic fibrosis, which left her gasping for breath.

In fact, difficulty breathing is the most serious symptom of the disease. It results from lung infections that can be treated but not cured (yet). Because there is no cure for cystic fibrosis, most people who have it die at a pretty young age (many in their 20s or 30s) because their lungs don’t work properly.

Lung Transplant

In the film 65 Red Roses, Eva does eventually get her double-lung transplant. A new set of lungs means that Eva’s dreams of living a full life and becoming an actress may come true. When she gets her new lungs in the movie, Eva says she’s literally been given the gift of life. That’s why becoming an organ donor – someone who agrees that, if anything bad ever happens to them they want to donate their working organs to a sick person who may need them – is so important to so many people.

But after the cameras stopped rolling, Eva’s battle with her disease continued. Within two years of receiving her new lungs, her body started to reject them (this sometimes happens when one person’s organs are transplanted into another person’s body). Eva was put on a list to receive yet another set of lungs. But as time ticked on she got sicker and sicker and it once again became harder and harder for her to breathe.

Eva’s Poem

Lying in her hospital bed on the morning of March 25, 2010, Eva wrote this poem for her blog:

i'm at that point now i'm done with the poetics asking for help
my sister is helping me write actually helping me write
the medications have been piling up
they are taking their toll
i am supersaturated with medications
i've been medically missing
in action for two days
the docs started taking me off some of them to see how i would manage and i am not managing not managing at all
i'm drowning in the medications
i can't breathe every hour once an hour i can't breathe
something has to change

Two days later Eva died. She was 25 years old. You can learn more about 65 Red Roses, Eva, cystic fibrosis and organ donation by visiting www.65redroses.com.

For more information about Cystic Fibrosis please visit Breathe 4 Tomorrow's website at http://www.breathe4tomorrow.org .

DVD presales are available until the end of May for the film. in Canada & US please visit www.65redroses.com