Double lung transplant means couples can dance again

“It is as if we have got a second chance, and we are taking every opportunity,” says Catherine Canning.

In 2008, her husband John came to know of a lung disease – a lung disease – and said that she had to rely on oxygen in 24 hours a day and get out of breath even when walking at a short distance. Will go

The 66 -year -old, Katherine used to do ballroom dancing on a weekly basis, but when Kovid had a deteriorating situation around the time of epidemic, he had to stop.

John eventually had a double -lung transplant in April 2023, which meant that the couple could dance together again from Lessesterreshire, and have a cruise of the Mediterranean Sea booked this year.

When asked about their first dance together after the transplant, 60 -year -old Catherine said: “It was the best feeling, but also thought that someone else had given John the opportunity.

“I found the biggest smile on my face. I was crying.

“We were with a magnificent group of friends who have given us a terrible support throughout this time, as well as our families who have been spectacular, but these groups of friends are like the family we have chosen.

“The house had no dry eye, so I was crying and laughing and smiling. And I went wrong – even if it was a simple dance.

“It was just incredible, because I never thought I would dance with him again.”

John, who lives with his wife in baro-on-so, had a lung reduction surgery in 2020, which did not work, meaning that she was recommended for a transplantation.

He was told that it could take him up to a year to find a donor when added to the transplant list in February 2023.

But exactly four weeks later, he received a call to say that doctors had found lungs for him.

Despite emerging that one of the lungs had an infection that could not be removed, one week later another pair was found.

The family visited the Royal Papworth Hospital in Cambridge, where John performed the operation.

Catherine said: “Saying goodbye to him in the lift in the hospital, because he went for the operation, I landed with my son on the ground floor and just burst into tears.

“My son was with me, and he was fantastic, and as John always said, it is probably more difficult for me, was going through the operation.”

After his surgery, John said he could notice an improvement as soon as he wakes up after spending 10 hours on the operating table.

He said: “I am not limited to the oxygen tank and I am walking without any breath for a few minutes.”

Last year, he moved to 3.1 miles (5 km) at Harvey Hayden Stadium in Nottingham as part of the British Transplant Games, which he described as “emotional”.

On 20 January, or blue Monday – Dubbed as the most disappointing day of the year by some people – The couple sent a voice note to the BBC Radio Lecester, when the audience was asked what they were to be cheerful about.

The note said that they would celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary this year, and had booked a Mediterranean cruise only a few weeks after John came out of the hospital.

Catherine said it “came out of blue” when she was later approached by the BBC in detail on her story.

The pair has also urged people to talk to their loved ones to talk to their loved ones about the desire to donate to the organs after death.

He said: “Every year, hundreds of opportunities are left for transplant because families are not sure what to do.

“Two minutes to register your decision to become an organ donor, and you can save up to nine lives.”