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When you talk to Linda and Mike Keston, you hear the words “lucky” and “grateful” a lot. And that’s while they’re telling the story of the pulmonary fibrosis that nearly killed Mike and that necessitated a lung transplant at UCLA in 2009, when he was 70.
“The people in the hospital were wonderful,” Linda says. “Dr. Lynch never gave up.”
Gratitude That Gives Back
The Kestons have shown their appreciation by giving $2 million to different areas of lung research in David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, including a very promising investigation into why bodies so often reject transplanted lungs. Around 50 percent of single lung transplant patients die after five years.
A business leader, art lover, musician, and philanthropist who has taught at USC for 25 years, Mike says, “Linda and I are lucky to have the money to give. If it helps others, we’re happy.”
Mike plays tennis twice a week now and works with a trainer who happens to be a UCLA physical therapist. “We’re part of the UCLA family now,” he says.
Published June 2015
