Neighbors 4 Neighbors

Team Effort For Teen's Life-Saving Surgery

CORAL SPRINGS (CBS4) ― Students at a South Florida high school are coming together to help a teenager who needs life-saving surgery. 14-year old Brieanna Yowell is tethered to oxygen and fighting for every breath because she has Cystic Fibrosis and needs a double lung transplant.

"I used to be to run, I can't run anymore," said Brieanna.

Cystic Fibrosis is an incurable genetic disease that is clogging her lungs with thick, sticky mucus. Without the surgery, she will die. If she gets the surgery, the former cheerleader dreams of a more normal life.

"I would go back to cheering, definitely. I would want to go to school full time," she told CBS4 Health Specialist Dr. Sean Kenniff.

But times are tough. So some tough guys decided to help Brieanna out. The football team at her high school, Marjory Stoneman Douglas in Coral Springs, is raising money to help pay for Brieanna's surgery.

"It's very heartwarming that people like them would want to help," said Brieanna.

The teenager says it's hard to stay positive but her mother helps a lot.

"She's a fighter, and she's not going to give up," explained Connie Yowell, Brieanna's mother.

The football team isn't giving up either.

"The whole school knows about the situation, and our football team has really stepped up, above and beyond everyone else to really raise a lot of money for Brieanna," said football coach Dave Grad.

Players say they're using their muscle to raise money because they're "all a team and basically a big family."

The cost of a transplant can often exceed $500,000 for both the operation and the post operative aftercare. If you'd like to help the Yowell family, go to http://www.cotaforbrieannay.com/.

(© MMVIII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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