Britain’s first double lung transplant spent five months on life support due to Covid

A man ‘shackled to life support machines’ for five months has been rescued with Britain’s first double lung transplant.

Cesar Franco, 50, who works as a maintenance engineer at a five-star hotel in central London, needed new lungs due to a particularly severe bout of Covid-19.

The father of a Streatham child was fit and healthy before contracting the illness in December last year, but within days his condition had deteriorated to the point where he had to be connected to a ventilator and life support machine at St Thomas’ Hospital.

Inflammation continued to develop in the lungs, which led to lung fibrosis—scarring in the lung tissue that meant it couldn’t breathe on its own.

Mr. Franco spent five months in the intensive care unit (ICU) before being transferred to Harefield Hospital in Uxbridge, where he was given two new lungs in a transplant surgery.

His surgeon said he was “incarcerated in intensive care” before surgery.

Mr. Franco received his transplant in June, was discharged at the end of August and is currently recovering at home.

He hopes to return to work gradually over the next year, but currently spends time with his family – his wife Gosia and 13-year-old son Gabriel – and takes daily walks.

Mr Franco, who didn’t have a Covid-19 vaccine before he contracted the virus but has since, said: “It was a very frightening experience and I didn’t know if I was going to get out of the hospital.

“When the doctors talked to me about the transplant, I was initially hesitant – I wanted my body to heal on its own, but it soon became clear that this wasn’t an option for me, I was so sick.

“The doctors, nurses and physiotherapists who were with me during my stay in the hospital have been my rock.

“They all treated me with the greatest respect, professionalism and compassion. They made sure to support me physically and emotionally during my weakest and most vulnerable times. I cannot thank them enough for taking care of me.

“My donor gave me the gift of life with the decision to selflessly donate organs. Now that I can live my life again and want to receive everything from life, now I have been given this precious gift.

Thank you to my donor, thank you to his family, and thank you to the medical teams who brought me to where I am now. And lastly, I am eternally grateful to my beloved wife and son, who have always shown their love and support to me during these difficult times.”

Professor John Dunning, director of heart and lung transplants at Harefield Hospital, said: “Cesar’s story is an example of everything great about the NHS that he receives excellent attention throughout his journey.

“He was someone with an acute illness whose condition had deteriorated enough to require specialist care from intensive care personnel and mechanical life support.

“At this point he was almost like a prisoner in intensive care chained to life support machines, which is the difference between life and death. His escape from this prison came when he was transferred to the lung transplant ward in Harefield and given a second chance at life.

“She received her transplant and was rehabilitated to return home a few months after her surgery. He is now thriving and is able to spend time with his wife and son less than a year after contracting a life-threatening illness.

“Cesar was lucky because he was able to get a transplant.

“We’ve seen a decline in organ donors since the start of the pandemic, and as a result, many patients on the transplant list don’t live long enough to receive organs.”

Additional reporting by the Press Association