Charity Sunshine Tillemann-Dick | |
---|---|
Born | Charity Sunshine Tillemann-Dick July 22, 1983 |
Died | April 23, 2019 35) | (aged
Education | Regis University (BA) Johns Hopkins University (MM) |
Occupations |
|
Years active | 1993–2019 |
Spouse | Yonatan Doron (m. 2012) |
Charity Sunshine Tillemann-Dick was an American soprano and presenter. A recipient of two bilateral (double) lung transplants, she spoke and performed frequently at concerts, conferences and events around the United States.
Tillemann-Dick was born in Denver, Colorado, the fifth of eleven children, including siblings, diplomat and technologist Tomicah Tillemann and author Levi Tillemann. [1] She received a bachelor's degree with high honors from Regis University and studied music at the Peabody Institute at Johns Hopkins University and the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest, where she was also a Fulbright scholar. [2]
A full lyric coloratura soprano, Tillemann-Dick performed across the United States, Europe, and Asia in venues as diverse as The Rose Theater at Lincoln Center in New York City; The Kennedy Center in Washington, DC; Severance Hall in Cleveland, Ohio; The National Symphony Hall in Budapest, Hungary; the American Embassy in Beijing, China; and the National Statuary Hall in the United States Capitol. She collaborated or performed with noted conductors and musicians including Bruno Rigacci, Joella Jones, Marvin Hamlisch, Bono, Zoltán Kocsis, Joan Dornemann, Éva Marton, and former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. [3] [4] Some of her opera roles included Titania in A Midsummer's Night Dream , Gilda in Rigoletto , and Violetta in La traviata .
Tillemann-Dick performed for numerous presidents, prime ministers, members of Congress and world dignitaries. [5]
After receiving a diagnosis of idiopathic pulmonary hypertension in 2004, Tillemann-Dick served as the national spokesperson for the Pulmonary Hypertension Association. In December 2005, she testified about pulmonary hypertension before the U.S. Congress' Committee on Energy and Commerce. [6]
In September 2009, Tillemann-Dick underwent a double lung transplant at the Cleveland Clinic. Just eight months later, she performed before the doctors, nurses, and support staff at the Clinic. [7] [8] [9] [10]
Tillemann-Dick then became a vocal advocate for organ donation and transplantation research in the United States. After complications from rejection, she received a second double lung transplant in January 2012.
After receiving her transplant, Tillemann-Dick presented at numerous conferences and events, including the Chicago Ideas Week, TEDMED, [11] [12] TEDxMidAtlantic; [13] and the 6th Annual National Conference on Organ Donation. She was a frequent presenter and performer for corporate events, nonprofits and associations, and civic organizations, and was featured on the CBS Morning Show, [14] CNN with Dr. Sanjay Gupta, [15] TED.com, [16] The Washington Post [17] and BBC Radio. [18]
Tillemann-Dick was the maternal granddaughter of Annette (Tillemann) and Congressman Tom Lantos, the former Chairman of the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs and the only Holocaust survivor ever elected to the U.S. Congress. Her paternal grandmother, Nancy E. Dick, was the first female Lieutenant Governor of Colorado. On April 10, 2008, Tillemann-Dick's father, Timber Dick, a successful inventor and businessman from Denver, died from injuries received in a car accident. [19]
She was married to Yonatan Doron; they lived in Baltimore, Maryland. [20]
Tillemann-Dick was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. [21]
In August 2018, she announced that she had cancer. [22] On April 23, 2019, Tillemann-Dick died at the age of 35, from cancer triggered by long-term immunosuppression from the transplants. [23] [2]
An artificial heart is a device that replaces the heart. Artificial hearts are typically used to bridge the time to heart transplantation, or to permanently replace the heart in the case that a heart transplant is impossible. Although other similar inventions preceded it from the late 1940s, the first artificial heart to be successfully implanted in a human was the Jarvik-7 in 1982, designed by a team including Willem Johan Kolff, William DeVries and Robert Jarvik.
Margaret Nixon McEathron, known professionally as Marni Nixon, was an American soprano and ghost singer for featured actresses in musical films. She is now recognized as the singing voice of leading actresses on the soundtracks of several musicals, including Deborah Kerr in The King and I, Natalie Wood in West Side Story, and Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady, although her roles were concealed from audiences when the films were released. Several of the songs she dubbed appeared on AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs list.
Kathleen Deanna Battle is an American operatic soprano known for her distinctive vocal range and tone. Born in Portsmouth, Ohio, Battle initially became known for her work within the concert repertoire through performances with major orchestras during the early and mid-1970s. She made her opera debut in 1975. Battle expanded her repertoire into lyric soprano and coloratura soprano roles during the 1980s and early 1990s, until her eventual dismissal from the Metropolitan Opera in 1994. She later has focused on recording and the concert stage. After a 22-year absence from the Met, Battle performed a concert of spirituals at the Metropolitan Opera House in November 2016.
Pulmonary hypertension is a condition of increased blood pressure in the arteries of the lungs. Symptoms include shortness of breath, fainting, tiredness, chest pain, swelling of the legs, and a fast heartbeat. The condition may make it difficult to exercise. Onset is typically gradual.
A face transplant is a medical procedure to replace all or part of a person's face using tissue from a donor. Part of a field called "Vascularized Composite Tissue Allotransplantation" (VCA) it involves the transplantation of facial skin, the nasal structure, the nose, the lips, the muscles of facial movement used for expression, the nerves that provide sensation, and, potentially, the bones that support the face. The recipient of a face transplant will take life-long medications to suppress the immune system and fight off rejection.
Interstitial lung disease (ILD), or diffuse parenchymal lung disease (DPLD), is a group of respiratory diseases affecting the interstitium (the tissue and space around the alveoli of the lungs. It concerns alveolar epithelium, pulmonary capillary endothelium, basement membrane, and perivascular and perilymphatic tissues. It may occur when an injury to the lungs triggers an abnormal healing response. Ordinarily, the body generates just the right amount of tissue to repair damage, but in interstitial lung disease, the repair process is disrupted, and the tissue around the air sacs becomes scarred and thickened. This makes it more difficult for oxygen to pass into the bloodstream. The disease presents itself with the following symptoms: shortness of breath, nonproductive coughing, fatigue, and weight loss, which tend to develop slowly, over several months. The average rate of survival for someone with this disease is between three and five years. The term ILD is used to distinguish these diseases from obstructive airways diseases.
Pulmonary fibrosis is a condition in which the lungs become scarred over time. Symptoms include shortness of breath, a dry cough, feeling tired, weight loss, and nail clubbing. Complications may include pulmonary hypertension, respiratory failure, pneumothorax, and lung cancer.
Lung transplantation, or pulmonary transplantation, is a surgical procedure in which one or both lungs are replaced by lungs from a donor. Donor lungs can be retrieved from a living or deceased donor. A living donor can only donate one lung lobe. With some lung diseases, a recipient may only need to receive a single lung. With other lung diseases such as cystic fibrosis, it is imperative that a recipient receive two lungs. While lung transplants carry certain associated risks, they can also extend life expectancy and enhance the quality of life for those with end stage pulmonary disease.
Vancouver General Hospital is a medical facility located in Vancouver, British Columbia. It is the largest facility in the Vancouver Hospital and Health Sciences Centre (VHHSC) group of medical facilities. VGH is Canada's third largest hospital by bed count, after Hamilton General Hospital, and Foothills Medical Centre.
Lisa Hopkins Seegmiller, credited as Lisa Hopkins until 2008, is an American classical singer and actress from Simi Valley, California. She holds a B.A. in Theater Studies and Acting from Yale University and a M.M. in Classical Voice from the Manhattan School of Music.
Royal Papworth Hospital is a specialist heart and lung hospital, located on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus in Cambridgeshire, England. The Hospital is run by Royal Papworth Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.
Dignity Health St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center is a hospital in Phoenix, Arizona, United States, operated by Dignity Health. St. Joseph's is a 607-bed, not-for-profit hospital that provides a wide range of health, social and support services, with special advocacy for the poor and underserved. It is home to the Barrow Neurological Institute, the world's largest dedicated neurosurgical center and a renowned leader in neurosurgical training, research, and patient care.
Nancy E. Dick was the 41st Lieutenant Governor of Colorado. She was a Democrat and served from 1979 to 1987 under Governor Richard Lamm. She was Colorado's first female lieutenant governor.
Travis was a male common chimpanzee who, as an animal actor, appeared in several television shows and commercials, including spots for Coca-Cola, as well as on television programs including The Maury Povich Show and The Man Show, though it has been disputed that Travis is the same chimpanzee who made these appearances. On February 16, 2009, Travis attacked and mauled his owner's friend in Stamford, Connecticut, blinding her, severing several body parts and lacerating her face, before he was shot and killed by a responding police officer.
Connie Culp was the first United States recipient of a partial face transplant, performed at the Cleveland Clinic in December 2008.
United Therapeutics Corporation is an American publicly traded biotechnology company and public benefit corporation listed on the NASDAQ under the symbol UTHR. It develops novel, life-extending technologies for patients in the areas of lung disease and organ manufacturing. United Therapeutics is co-headquartered in Silver Spring, Maryland and Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, with additional facilities in Magog and Bromont, Quebec; Melbourne and Jacksonville, Florida; Blacksburg, Virginia; and Manchester, New Hampshire.
Alex Pangman is a Canadian jazz singer and is a specialist in songs from the Great American Songbook.
Chloe Temtchine is an American singer-songwriter.
Stuart William Jamieson is a British cardiothoracic surgeon, specialising in pulmonary thromboendarterectomy (PTE), a surgical procedure performed to remove organized clotted blood (thrombus) from pulmonary arteries in people with chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH).