Christine Cowan in 2001 photo Christina Cowan, the Massapequa Park teen who underwent a double lung transplant in 2001, will celebrate her 16th birthday December 16. Christina is at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, where she awaits another transplant and who, according to her father Richard, is fighting and exceeding the expectations of all the medical experts.

Christina was a fourth grade student at East Lake School when she underwent her first transplant in January, 2001. She had been diagnosed with cystic fibrosis as an infant. At the time, the family moved temporarily to North Carolina to await a donor and after two false alarms, a successful match was found and the operation was performed. The Massapequa community rallied around the family giving them moral and financial support.

Anyone who would like to send Christina a birthday card can do so in her name, c/o Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, 34th St. and Civic Center Blvd., Philadelphia, PA, 19102.