A 54-year-old man who underwent a lung transplant operation at Dublin's Mater hospital a year ago was fit enough to cycle back to the hospital yesterday from his home in Co Laois to thank staff for giving him a new lease of life.
Tom Flynn undertook the 85km (53 mile) cycle from Mountmellick to Dublin in four stages, arriving at the hospital yesterday afternoon where he was greeted by the hospital's transplant team.
Barely sweating after his efforts, he explained that he had "a bit of training done".
The retired garda had never been in hospital a day in his life until he developed a life-threatening lung disease early last year called idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, which causes breathlessness.
"I was bad. I could only walk about 150 yards without running out of breath completely," he said.
One year on, the father of three can now live a much more active life, though he is still taking daily medication to prevent him rejecting his new lung.
"Exercise is as important as the tablets. I'm not back fully yet but I'm getting there. I'm stronger now than I was. Every week I feel better," he said.
Dr Jim Egan, one of the transplant team, said it wasn't unusual for somebody to be able to cycle several miles just one year after a lung transplant.
"We have 11 transplants done so far and we are very pleased with the results.
"And if somebody can keep themselves physically fit, there is no reason why they don't function absolutely normally, as anybody else would in terms of physical exercise, travel abroad or whatever," Dr Egan said.
"The purpose of the transplant is to give them back their lives in terms of survival and quality of life," he said.
The first lung transplant in the State took place at the Mater in May 2005. Mr Flynn was operated on four months later, making him the second person in the State to receive a lung transplant on Irish soil.
Dr Egan said that since then, nine more lung transplants had been performed at the hospital and three of these were double lung transplants. All 11 patients are doing well.
Mr Flynn's cycle acted as a fund-raiser for the hospital's heart and lung transplant unit.
"It allowed me make some sort of a contribution to the unit here . . . I'm lucky to be alive.
"I couldn't say enough about the team here and as far as people cribbing about the health service, I don't see a thing wrong with it," he said.