Man seeking double lung transplant

Hi, my name is Erin and I am raising funds to help provide some meaningful end-of-life care to my oldest and dearest friend, Kyle Heeley.

Kyle is a 36 year old man, who has been told by doctors that he has a highly uncertain future due to a very rare condition that could see him pass away at potentially any moment from any minor or major infections. This could be either months or years away depending entirely on how well his body can hold out.

Ultimately, it's because Kyle needs a double lung transplant. This is due to Type 2 lung failure brought on by a severe infection due to complications with a condition called Bronchiectasis, which is slowly but surely narrowing his airways, filling them with CO2, suffocating him from within his own lungs.

Tragically, however, he was also born with a very rare condition called XLA, which is an immune disorder that fails to produce white blood cells effectively. This has meant that Kyle has been taking life-saving, intravenous medication every three weeks, ever since he was a baby.

The reason this is such a problem relating to his lung condition, is that should Kyle even have the opportunity for a double lung transplant, the immunosuppressive drugs he would be required to take thereafter - to avoid the body rejecting the organs - would ultimately destroy his already failing immune system, due to an XLA patients need for constant immune-boosting drugs.

In a nutshell, this has left Kyle saying "I'm damned if I do, and damned if I don't." This is due to his option to either get the double lung transplant - and then face the risk of dying from an infection immediately picked up following surgery, and never even getting to leave the hospital - Or, he does survive surgery and avoids infections, but, should he attempt to go on without the immunosuppressive drugs he has to avoid, his Bronchiectasis condition will inevitably reinfect his new lungs anyway, bringing him back to square one.

Beyond this, no one in human history has had both XLA and the valid opportunity for a double lung transplant. This is often due to aging patients, but since Kyle is in his mid-30s, the doctors are granting him the option for surgery, making him the only person in history to be considered for the procedure. This fundamentally highlights the absolute rarity of this entire situation that Kyle finds himself in. One that has doctors calling him "an enigma". And a situation they said, at the very least, that has doctors obsessing over how to best help him.

The reason I am creating this appeal is so that Kyle can live and die knowing that he has helped provide for his family before he leaves us. To raise money due to him no longer being able to work and to also go towards funeral costs after he's gone.

And more significantly and immediately however, it's to allow Kyle to form some life-long memories with his two, ten year-old daughters. It's always been Kyle's dream to go to Norway and to witness the Aurora Borealis, and to be able to be there with his wife and daughters would mean the world to him and to his wonderful family. 

Speaking of family, Kyle only got married in July 2022 but has spent more time in hospital than not since the wedding. Thereby, missing Christmas, New Years Eve, his own birthday and Father's Day. The worst incident to date, which has sparked this need for an appeal, was this summer just gone, when Kyle collapsed in hospital and stopped breathing.

He was rushed to the ICU at the Manchester Royal Hospital where he was put into an induced coma for 33 days. During this time, the doctors said to prepare for the fact that he may likely die at any moment. They later declared that he would be removed off of life support should he not respond to doctors within 48 hours.

Somehow, miraculously, he more than merely responded, he shocked us all by waking up fully, eyes open and using his own lungs with hours to spare before he would've been let go.

However, he is now back in hospital again due to all of the aforementioned problems being forever present and worsening. He may have been saved due to the medicine and technology available, but they only papered over the cracks of what is ultimately, a man "living on borrowed time", as Kyle himself puts it.

Beyond the fact that Kyle is dying with Type 2 lung failure, he has also been in constant pain all over his body due to fibromyalgia, complete deafness in one ear and 80% hearing in the other, constant migraines, asthma and repeatedly breaking ribs due to constant coughing from his failing lungs. Whilst currently, alongside this, he's also living with a hernia that may at any time cause severe complications that would require surgery that his body cannot currently withstand. As well as a torn rotator cuff to name but a few of the issues that have been deeply affecting Kyle's life 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Week in, week out. YEAR in, YEAR out.

And yet, you wouldn't feel anything but inspiration from this man. He is a walking legend amongst us all and someone that I have forever held to be as a brother. He truly is so well loved by everyone he meets as he is the most up front, genuine, outgoing and friendly man you could ever have the privilege of being friends with. He's always lit up any room he walks into and makes you feel so well liked and respected. A man who gives all that he has to others and asks for nothing in return. And for this, and so much more you can't put into words, I find myself to be very lucky to have held him so closely in my life ever since we met as late teens.

I've gotten to live with him, take trips and festivals together, see his daughter be born, witness him get married to his beautiful wife and becoming the adoptive father of her daughter, and now, regrettably, see him come to the end of his life whilst we're still only in our mid 30s.

I love Kyle so very much and it pains me deeply to know how painful his loss will be to us all, to his wife and daughters he'll leave behind, to his mum and dad and brothers, his closest friends, and to all of the countless people who know and love him so dearly.

So please, donate and share all that you can, knowing that you can truly bring some much needed peace and happiness to a man and his family, before Kyle unavoidably leaves us far too soon. 

And we are facing an untimely end, but until that day comes, we can focus on giving Kyle some amazing memories and experiences for himself as well. He's a massive Manchester United supporter and would love to see them play at Old Trafford once more. And to head to Celtic Park for a game after all of these years that he's supported them, thanks to my own fanaticism of Celtic.

He's also a lover of rally driving and fast cars and would love to be fit enough to hop into the passenger seat and be taken for a spin, or even take the wheel should he be fit enough on the day! Hot air balloon trips, helicopter rides, a food tour across the USA. And he wants to meet the Big Dosser himself, Tyson Fury. Whilst, Kyle and Jodiey are also big fans of Peter Crouch and Abbie Clancy who he'd love to meet. Kyle wants it all, just like the rest of us. So let's help him to realise his dreams and to have some actual life satisfaction for once.

And here he is, the wonderful Kyle with his amazing wife, Jodiey.

On behalf of all of Kyle's family and loved ones, thank you for all of the help you provide. It will mean the world to us all x

Help us along with the hashtags #ImAlive #IBeLung2