NEWS RELEASE – April 28, 2026
A Second Chance Made Possible Through
Organ Donation
A Conversation Series for National Donate Life Month with ARH Chief Medical Officer Maria Braman, MD
LEXINGTON, Ky. – This Donate Life Month, ARH Chief Medical Officer Dr. Maria Braman opens up about her powerful transplant journey and how organ donation gave her and her family a second chance at life.
Before her lung transplant, even walking across a room was a struggle due to pulmonary fibrosis. Now, every day is a treasured gift made possible by the compassion of an organ donor and their loved ones.
A single organ donor can save up to eight lives and help dozens more through tissue and eye donation. Their legacy ripples through families and communities.
Dr. Braman shared her story as part of UK HealthCare’s “Extraordinary People” series. You can watch it here:
To learn more about organ donation, visit www.RegisterMe.org to register as an organ, eye, and tissue donor. You can also find more information about organ, eye, and tissue donation, as well as living donation, at www.DonateLife.net.
This story is part of a short ARH conversation series leading up to the launch of our new ARH podcast coming this fall.
About Appalachian Regional Healthcare (ARH)
Appalachian Regional Healthcare (ARH) traces its roots back to 1955, when the United Mine Workers of America opened the Miners Memorial Hospital system – a network of 10 hospitals dedicated to providing care throughout the coalfields of eastern Kentucky and southern West Virginia. Seventy years later, ARH has grown into a 14-hospital not-for-profit health system that serves more than 500,000 residents of central Appalachia each year. ARH hospitals in Barbourville, Harlan, Hazard, Hyden, Martin, McDowell, Middlesboro, Paintsville, Prestonsburg, West Liberty, Whitesburg, and South Williamson in Kentucky, and Beckley and Hinton in West Virginia, ensure that residents, tucked away in even the most remote areas, can access the highest quality of care without traveling hours from home. ARH’s hospitals, clinics, multi-specialty physician practices, home health agencies, home medical equipment stores, retail pharmacies, and medical spas boast more than 6,700 employees with a network of more than 1,300 providers, making it the single largest employer in southeastern Kentucky and the third-largest private employer in southern West Virginia.