Hi, my name is Pete and I had a double lung transplant aged 26 in 2017, 9 years ago as I write this. I grew up with Cystic Fibrosis, and when I first heard a suggestion that I may need a lung transplant I was terrified.

Despite a mountain of evidence to the contrary, I still considered myself healthy, even though my lungs were rapidly failing.

Having seen the post-transplant survival statistics at the time, I clung to the hope that we could preserve my lungs long enough for new treatments to emerge. (as it happened, Kaftrio was licensed in the UK only a few years after my transplant).

As the months went on it became clear that I wasn’t going to be able to wait it out, as my lungs deteriorated, and I was placed on the list in February 2017, eventually getting my transplant 4 months later. What I was scared of at the time became the best thing that ever happened to me (once I’d dealt with some fairly substantial posttransplant complications) – from being unable to exercise, take care of myself or live any sort of normal life in my mid-twenties, I’m now the healthiest I’ve ever been in my mid-thirties.

I work full-time, exercise every day, have travelled the world and I’ve been incredibly lucky to compete in and win medals at 2 different World Transplant Games (so far) – in Perth in 2023 and Dresden in 2025, for which I was also made captain of the tennis team. I’m also privileged to be the chairperson of the Harefield Transplant Club, and the Team Manager for the Harefield Adults team at the British Transplant Games.

I love this opportunity I have to show off how brilliant organ donation is, to help new transplantees discover the possibilities of posttransplant life, and doing that through my own passion, sports. It’s incredibly inspirational to me to see so many people with transplants much older than mine, including Bert, Clive and Lisa, surviving and thriving for decades after their transplants, and I hope one day I can provide that same inspiration to others.

I’m so grateful for the second chance at life my donor has given me, and I have no intention of wasting it. I’m also active on several committees as a patient representative working on improving and standardising heart and lung transplant care across the country hopefully one day those statistics won’t seem as scary to those joining the list. It’s possible to have a fantastic life post heart or lung transplant and I want to help as many people as possible achieve that.