SALISBURY – Salisbury native Brittany Dancy Caro needed an expensive and lifesaving lung transplant.

But according to Brittany’s mother, Regina Dancy, Caro received a call late last week that a donor had been identified and was to undergo surgery at John Hopkins Hospital at the end of last week.

“Brittany received a call this evening telling her a donor has been identified. Therefore, I am on my way to Johns Hopkins, where the surgery will be performed,” Regina said in an email to the Post Friday.

That good news came after Caro was diagnosed for interstitial lung disease/pulmonary fibrosis with an underlying mixed connective tissue disease in 2016.

At the time, Caro and her husband, Reuben, were newlyweds. She had developed an unshakable cough in the fourth year of her doctoral program.

“I never thought I’d be in a place where I would get sick and my lungs would stop functioning properly,” Caro said. “You never know when it might be you or your loved one in need of an organ. Organ donation saves lives.”

Doctors told her that a double-lung transplant was critical to her survival.

“Receiving a transplant will give me my life back,” Caro said. “I feel like I’m 31 years old in a much older body. A lung transplant will bring fun back into my life.”

Caro is a psychologist with WellSpan Pilhaven, providing therapy to adolescents, adults and families.

With Caro’s current health, she often has to constantly monitor her caseload to ensure she does not overwork her body.

She said daily tasks such as getting ready in the morning, taking a shower and getting dressed are difficult, but that she will be able to do those things without having to take breaks once she receives her transplant.

Caro attended West Rowan Middle and High schools.

Her mother is active in the community with a number of organizations, such as Women for Community Justice and the Salisbury/Rowan County NAACP.

Dancy is also an ordained minister and works at Hood Theological Seminary.

“Like any other parent who has had a child with a chronic illness, my faith has been tested as never before,” Dancy said.

Caro’s loved ones have been supportive of her in this process but are concerned about her health.

“My support team is amazing, from my family to my friends to strangers — they have stepped up and supported me in ways I couldn’t even have imagined,” Caro said.

Although health insurance will cover a portion of the transplant costs, Caro faces significant expenses related to the surgery. She will need follow-up care and daily anti-rejection medications for the rest of her life. Post-transplant medications are as critical to her survival as the transplant itself.

And the average double-lung transplant costs more than $1 million.

Further complicating the situation, Caro lives 80 miles from the transplant center and has to travel back and forth for appointments.

After receiving her transplant, Caro will have to temporarily relocate to be nearby as she recovers.

For fundraising support and guidance, Caro and her family have turned to the National Foundation for Transplants. NFT is a nonprofit organization that helps patients raise money to pay transplant-related expenses.

“I am so grateful to everyone who has supported me in my journey,” Caro said.

Tax-deductible donations in honor of Caro can be sent to the NFT Pennsylvania Transplant Fund, 5350 Poplar Ave., Suite 850, Memphis, TN 38119. Write “in honor of Brittany Caro” on the memo line.

Secure donations can be made online at www.transplants.org. Donors should click on “Find an NFT Patient” to locate Caro.