A Year Ago I Could Still Go Out

EVERY time the phone rings Gary Coventry prepares for the news that a donor has been found and today will be the day he will get his double lung transplant.

The Litherland father-of-two has already been called into hospital once for the 10-hour operation, only to be told once ready for theatre that tests had shown the donor lungs were infected.

Aged 46, the HGV driver, says waiting for the transplant is mentally hard – knowing that his condition is deteriorating and will continue to do so without major surgery.

But the Everton fan says that even with a one-in-20 chance of dying on the operating table, this is something that needs to be done if he is ever to have a normal life.

He said: “I have suffered with my chest all my life. I had pneumonia when I was a child, I am asthmatic and had bronchiectisis about three years ago.

“A year ago I could still go out and walk the dog but slowly but surely I have been getting worse. Now everyday things like going up the stairs are a real struggle.

“I was put on the transplant register on August 31 even though I am not as ill as some people on it.

“The hope is that if I am on the register now I won’t get to the point where I am too ill to undergo the surgery.”

The lifelong non-smoker and his family know his condition is deteriorating.

On Christmas Day he collapsed in the hall after walking the dog.

As well as taking a mixture of antibiotics daily to control infection in his lungs he has recently undergone an intensive course of IV antibiotics and requires oxygen.

While the transplant will not prolong life, with hopes of grandchildren in the next five or six years, it is the change in his quality of life that Gary is desperate for.

Gary said: “My life will improve ten-fold if I get a double lung transplant.

“Of course I am apprehensive but it needs to be done.

“You know that somebody has passed away for you to get that opportunity which is terrible.

“But what is more terrible is if that person had passed away and then their body was just cremated.

“I have always had a donor card.

“If you expect to receive – you must also be prepared to give.

“I have met so many people who have received organs and it is the most amazing thing.

“It is truly wonderful and I hope more people will register as donors.

“In my opinion saving more lives and keeping families together can only be a good thing.”

(c) 2008 Liverpool Echo. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.