In January 2021, Kent McFadyen noticed that he was short of breath after walking a short distance to his home to get a shovel.

Kent and his wife Heather were stuck in a snow storm when he first noticed his symptoms. “I was beat by the time I got there. I didn’t think much of it at the time, I thought well, I’m just getting older…” 

Later that year, Kent’s symptoms had gotten worse, and in September he began a series of tests which revealed that Kent was living with pulmonary fibrosis. 

“They told us then that he had two years to live. So, right away they were telling us ‘lung transplant’ and we were scared to death. We didn’t really know what to think” says Heather.

After getting in touch with the transplant team in Toronto, Kent and Heather reached out to NB Lung. “At first its like, where do we start? But Barb from NB Lung was always there if there was something I didn’t understand.”

NB Lung was also able to provide Kent with a small financial grant and a Portable Oxygen Concentrator; giving him the freedom to move and travel without a cumbersome floor model. “I don’t know what we would have done if we didn’t have the oxygen machine from NB Lung”.

Kent’s lung transplant journey was faster than most. The couple travelled to Toronto in January of 2023, and he had his operation on the 21st. Just three weeks later, Kent was discharged from the hospital and stayed in Toronto until May for recovery and observation.

While Kent has to take certain precautions and his lung function isn’t what it used to be, he is back in Harvey, recovering well and enjoying his “new normal”, spending time with his loved ones.

Check out our interview with Kent and Heather below.