Youth Minister Out Of Hospital After Double Lung Transplant

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MIAMI (CBSMiami) - There was a hip hop celebration outside of Jackson Memorial Hospital for a popular youth minister who was released after undergoing a double lung transplant.

Joel Stigale has influenced thousands of young lives in South Florida through his organization Catalyst Hip-Hop. So some of his biggest supporters were there when he was released, seven months after undergoing surgery.

"I didn't expect to see them at all, it's beautiful man," said Stigale.

Last fall Stigale was diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis, his only chance of survival was a lung transplant.

"I used to do gang ministry, life-and-death was always a reality but this became very real," said Stigale.

Last fall, 41-year-old minister unexpectedly faced respiratory failure that started as a lingering cough. While at an out-of-town work conference, his condition deteriorated so quickly that he could barely walk from his car to the hotel.

Stigale went to see his pulmonologist, who determined that Stigale's lungs were functioning at just 20 percent. He was diagnosed with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. It's a disease with no known cause or cure and from which more Americans die each year than breast cancer. His only chance at survival was a lung transplant.

He was admitted to Jackson Memorial Hospital in October.

Stigale's bilateral transplant surgery on November 13, 2015, was a success. As he recovered at Jackson, Stigale was regularly visited by members of his Catalyst Hip-Hop family. During Art Basel, one particular graffiti crew he mentored, Few Distinct Chosen (FDC), dedicated a mural in Wynwood to Stigale. The mural, which currently faces I-95, reads "Get Well Soon, Joel."

"I have been mentored by Joel since I was 16 years old, "said Carlos "Junk" Lainez, 32, leader of FDC. "We were completely devastated and worried about him; Joel is an angel amongst us and has given young people an opportunity when no one else would."

During his stay at the hospital his wife Vivian never left his side.

"To our donors, family, thank you, thank you very much for this gift," said Vivian Stigale.

The Stigales are also extremely grateful to the doctors and staff.

"I know God gave them the wisdom and skill but what they do is a calling not a career. I am phenomenally blessed to do what I am doing, to be here now breathing," said Joel Stigale.

A second chance at life given to a man who has touched so many lives and will continue to do so.

"It was a rough journey but a blessing. I know God has a whole reason for me having a second chance and continue doing what I am doing," said Stigale.

Stigale said he's looking forward to sleeping in his own bed, seeing his dog and eating "vaca frita" at Jackson Memorial Hospital.