By Terry Woods, Craigavon (Member of NITA)

The Gift of Life

I first started having trouble with my lungs in August 1981 when air started to escape causing severe pains in my chest. I was 21 years old married with 2 small children. My mother had died 2 months earlier after suffering for years with asthma and emphysema. She was just 45 years old. After a couple of weeks in Craigavon Hospital I was allowed home. I soon returned to work at the Ulster Carpet Mills.

Over the next 14 years my lungs collapsed a couple of times. I eventually had to go into the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast for operations to strengthen my lungs. Things went well for a while but eventually I developed asthma and severe emphysema. I was finding it a struggle to do my work. Even getting dressed in the morning was a real task. I was eventually laid off work in 1993 due to my illness. My father had died in February 1992. He too, suffered severe breathing problems.

My health continued to deteriorate over the next couple of years. I was 7 stone in weight and couldn’t do a thing. My wife, Noreen, was washing and dressing me daily as well as trying to look after our 3 children. In May 1995, I had a really bad asthma attack and I ended up on a life support machine in Craigavon Area Hospital 4 times over the next 1.5 years. I thought I was going to die.

In October 1996, I met the doctors from the Freeman Hospital, Newcastle upon Tyne, when they came to Belfast City Hospital. After being assessed, I was told that I needed a lung transplant or I wouldn’t be here in 2 years’ time. I was put on a waiting list and got a ‘bleeper’ and had to be ready to go to the Freeman Hospital within 20 minutes when the time came. After a year of waiting, the call came. An ambulance was at my door within 15 minutes and Noreen and I were away! At Aldergrove Airport we were put on a small plane with 2 pilots and away we went. As we were coming into Newcastle Airport, the pilot came to us and said “I’m sorry, but the operation has been cancelled.” I was devastated! We returned back home to Portadown to wait for the next time.

I eventually had a single lung transplant on 16th June, 1998 at the Freeman Hospital. After a couple of days I was out of bed and walking around the room. Soon, I was in the gym doing light exercise. After 2 weeks I was able to leave the hospital and move to a patients’ flat within the hospital grounds and I went to the out-patients’ department each day for tests. Just over 4 weeks later, I was able to come home.

I lead a fairly good life. I like to swim and walk. I have drugs to take each day and, although I have had some problems with rejection, it has not been serious. I enjoy participating – and winning medals – in the Transplant Games. I have several grandchildren who I never thought I would see. Every day is a bonus. I will be forever in debt to the doctors, nurses and other staff at the Freeman, Royal Victoria and Craigavon Hospitals for all the care they gave me.

A very special ‘thank you’ to Stuart whose lung I now have and to his family for the ‘Gift of Life’