Lisa Landry Childress was the youngest daughter of Coach Tom Landry and his wife Alicia. She married Gary Childress and was expecting their first child in 1991. In the spring, doctors discovered that Lisa had a rare form of liver cancer. Lisa’s greatest fear was not for her own life, but for the life of the baby that she carried. Lisa Landry Childress was determined that, in spite of the odds, she and Gary would get to be parents.

In August, after Lisa gave birth to Christina, the doctors informed her that she had a very short time to live. Her only chance was to receive a liver transplant – quickly. Luckily, only ten days after Christina’s birth, Lisa received a new liver through transplantation. Lisa would not have lived without the generosity of the donor family. She was so thankful to be healthy and have the chance to raise Christina and be with her family!

The Creation of the Lisa Landry Childress Foundation

Over the next three years, Lisa went to schools and churches and shared her experience. She explained that due to the shortage of organs, many people were not as fortunate as she had been. Her powerful message moved many to consider donation for the first time. Lisa shared her story again and again until complications from cancer led to her passing in 1995.

Lisa and her family learned a lot about donation and transplantation through Lisa’s life experience. They decided to continue to spread awareness through organ donation education in schools in her memory through the Lisa Landry Childress Foundation.

Lisa Landry Childress had a deep love for children and made them her focus of study, receiving her degree in child development and education. She wanted children to have the necessary education to make informed decisions about organ and tissue donation and transplantation when they grew up.

About the Foundation