Three boys on a bike
09.07.08
Lung Transplant Patient & Two Friends To Cycle From London To Paris During National Transplant Week (6th – 13th July)
On Friday 11 July lung transplant patient Matthew Stein (16) and two friends, James Thorpe (16) and David Freeman (16) will set off from Tower Bridge in London on a three man bike to the Eiffel Tower in Paris to raise money for Great Ormond Street hospital and raise awareness of children’s organ donation.
“In 2007 Great Ormond Street Hospital and an organ donor saved my life when I received a lung transplant,” says Matt. “We have two objectives for the trip; firstly to raise awareness about children's organ donation. There is a severe shortage of child donors and as a result many ill children are not as fortunate as me in getting a transplant. The second is to raise money for Great Ormond Street Hospital.”
Professor John Wallwork, one of the UK’s leading transplant surgeons and Chairman of The Transplant Trust, the UK’s largest transplant charity, says "Transplantation allows people not only to live longer, but also to live better. I wish Matthew and his friends every success in their cycle ride, beginning as it does in National Transplant Week and on the day we launch our social networking site, www.thetxspace.com."
In February 2006 Matt ended up in intensive care with a pneumonia type virus. He made a slow, partial recovery, but his lungs were gradually being eaten away and by July '06 he was on oxygen 24hrs a day, and unable to walk more than a few metres.
By September 2006 he was on the lung transplant list at Great Ormond Street Hospital. A year after his initial illness his lung function was just 4% and he had lost a third of his body weight.
“I was on very high levels of oxygen and a machine that helped me breathe at night,” says David. “An overwhelming desire to live, my families never ending support and the hope a donor would be found in time, was all that kept me going.”
The call that a donor had been found came on March 26th 2007, and Matthew was lucky enough to receive a double lung transplant. The seven hour operation was a great success and he was determined to get back to normality as quickly as possible. He left hospital in just over 2 weeks – a record for Great Ormond Street.
He began cycling every day, although even a mile was a challenge at first, and eventually made it up to 50 miles by 3 months after transplant and raised £3,150 for "Hearts for Kids" the Great Ormond Street cardiothoracic transplant charity.
“I have been lucky in so many ways and although my life and expectations are very different to that of my friends, I value every moment,” says Matthew. “Although my future relies purely upon advances in medical science and lots of drugs every day, I don’t really mind. It just widens my experience of life and makes me a more rounded person. So for now, I just want to get out and have as much fun as possible, and in the process hopefully increase awareness about organ donation and raise as much as we can for Great Ormond Street, so that others can be lucky enough to benefit in the way that I have.”
Anyone wishing to sponsor Matthew and his friends can do so at www.justgiving.com/3boysonabike |
