Amy Crews

Amy Melissa Crews went to heaven on November 1, 2013. God took her from life on earth to eternal life as she worshipped Him listening to her favorite hymn. She was lying in the arms of her mom and nearby was her stepdad, her dear friend,Trina Smith, and several nurses and healthcare providers who loved her. Amy was born on June 16, 1985 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. She couldn't wait to start living...so she came three weeks early, and has lived life with zest and enthusiasm ever since. She was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis when she was 2 months old, but didn't let her diagnosis slow her a bit. She was an honor student. She loved music and was gifted with a lovely voice and the ability to play piano by ear. The most important thing you can know about Amy is that she has a strong faith in Jesus Christ. She walks daily with Him and has leaned on Him throughout her life. The light of Jesus Christ shines through Amy and in her you can see the fruit of His Spirit. Her disease was wicked causing severe lung disease and digestive issues, but she never complained. By the time she was 18, her disease was terminal so she was listed and blessed to receive a double lung transplant at St. Louis Children's Hospital on July 1, 2003. Amy used the gift of new life provided through the generous gift of lungs offered from a grieving family to the glory of God. Only six months after transplant she entered the University of Alabama as a full-time student. Amy chose nursing as a major because in Amy's words, "other than my faith and my family, nurses have had the biggest impact on my life. More than just taking care of my health, nurses have held me, rocked me, loved me, entertained me, and supported me. I believe God used my life to prepare me to give back to other children and their families who also have needs." While at UA, Amy was a dean's list and sometimes president's list student. She was a member of Delta Zeta sorority and served in a variety of leadership roles including Event Coordinator. Amy decided that she wanted her nursing degree from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, was accepted into the UAB nursing program, and received her BSN (BS in nursing) in December 2008. She became a nurse in the NICU (neonatal intensive care unit) at Children's Hospital in January 2009 . In 2011, while employed full time in the NICU and nearing completion of her work on her MSN (Master Degree Nursing) as a pediatric nurse practitioner, Amy became ill with pneumonia. The strep pneumonia caused an aggressive onset of chronic rejection in her transplanted lungs. She was able to receive a second transplant at Duke Medical Center on March 28, 2012. After a rocky recovery, Amy began to thrive and returned home to Hoover in March 2013. She developed an infection in August while at Duke Medical Center where she had just been successfully treated for a narrowed airway. A severe reaction to the antibiotics used to treat the infection caused kidney failure and complications with Amy's new lungs. Amy was hospitalized at Duke on August 19, 2013. She never fully recovered from the complications brought on by the reaction to the antibiotics and went to heaven on Friday, November 1. Amy had a quiet, gentle calming nature. Amy was full of life. She was bright, witty, gentle, compassionate, creative, courageous. Her smile lit up her face and the room. She brought joy to every person who met her. She loved her Lord, her family and friends. She loved the babies she cared for in the NICU. Amy enjoyed music, shopping, travel, and was a roller-coaster enthusiast. She loved Disney, college fooball, the New Orleans Saints, the Alabama Crimson Tide, and was a fierce fantasy football competitor. Amy enjoyed holidays and especially Christmas. In 2009 Amy was approached about sharing her transplant story in a television commercial to promote organ donation for the Alabama Organ Center. The organization had in the past shared stories from the perspective of the donor families but Amy provided an opportunity to tell the story of organ transplants from the perspective of a recipient. Her thirty second commercial aired across the state of Alabama for over 2 years and was one of the most effective campaigns that the Alabama Organ Center has produced. In addition to the commercial, there is an extend interview that remains on the organizations website at www.alabamaorgancenter.org/rec.php. Amy is survived by her parents, Tommye and Kerry Lambert and sister, Lauren Elaine Crews of Hoover Alabama and stepmother, Monica Crews of Birmingham, Alabama, her Grandmother, Virginia Crews of Decatur, GA, Stepsisters, Lee Lambert and Laura Lambert of Knoxville, TN and Kim Ball and Alicia Giardina of Birmingham, Alabama, as well as numerous aunts, uncles, cousins and friends. Amy was predeceased by her Father, George McNeny Crews, and Grandparents George W Crews Jr., James Ezra Priest, and Mildred Lee Priest. Donations may be made to: Lung Transplant Foundation www.lungtransplantfoundation.org Cystic Fibrosis Foundation www.cff.org Alabama Organ Center www.alabamaorgancenter.org The family will receive friends Thursday, November 7, 2013, from 5:30-8 PM at Hunter Street Baptist Church, Funeral Services will be Friday, November 8, 2013, at 12 PM at the church with Dr. Buddy Gray officiating. Interment will follow in Jefferson Memorial Gardens, South.