JAD’s JOURNEY to Lung Transplant

Breathing is essential to life itself. Imagine having a hard time taking a shower or going to get the mail - physically able to but just trying to wash or walk the driveway, performing the most basic tasks, is a struggle because you can’t breathe. Taking a breath, any breath, is a struggle.

This is the stark reality for James DiAngelo (fondly known as ‘JAD’), 40-year-old father of six living in Harford County, Maryland on a small portion of his family’s former dairy farm.

A Harford County native, JAD has lived all of his life in Maryland while working most recently as an over the road truck driver. He has faced health issues throughout his life as a result of being born prematurely, but has worked hard to keep those challenges from restricting his life.

In early winter of 2020, JAD landed in the hospital because he was having difficulties breathing. This would be the beginning of his health issues worsening, resulting in multiple hospital stays over the past few years, as well as a lung disease and irreversible lung damage diagnosis. Walking became more of a challenge, as did almost every other activity.

In November of 2023, JAD went to see his pulmonary team because he wasn’t feeling well, and they immediately admitted him after determining his lung function to be around 20% of a fully healthy lung, a drastic deterioration from his previous lung function earlier in the year. Due to JAD’s deteriorating condition, doctors accelerated the process to get him on the list for double lung transplantation as soon as possible, & he spent several weeks in the hospital over the Thanksgiving holiday completing his transplant testing.

After finding out that he needed a lung transplant he has become singularly focused on getting new lungs & a new lease on life, taking a breath of fresh air, & moving on with his life so that he can continue to raise his family, including two daughters and four sons, with his wife on their small farm where his own grandparents once raised their children. Still yet, we know that the journey ahead will be a long one filled with many unknowns. There will be physical as well as mental healing, & yet the burdens of everyday living & trying to raise a family…mortgage, food, gas, car, etc….will persist during this journey despite the family’s loss of JAD’s income.

Over the next days, weeks, and months ahead the family will need to be at countless doctor appointments & hospital stays. As you can imagine, the medical costs can be astronomical & there will be other expenses along the way from hospital transportation and parking garage costs for his family, to rejection & other prescription & treatment & supply costs.

We have started this Go Fund Me account to ease the financial burden for this Harford County family so that they can focus on making it through this journey, get a chance to take a breath of fresh air & get back to focusing on what’s most important – their family & their community.

From the bottom of our hearts we humbly ask that you share this link with friends and family and if possible in giving (any amount will help). We thank you for your support and God bless each and every one of you!!

P.S. Please don't think that any amount of money is too small. We may keep raising the goal as the amount of time until JAD receives any medical/financial assistance, lung transplantation, hospital discharge, and a ‘clean bill of health’ is an unknown that will likely go into 2025 (& possibly beyond).

God teaches us to dream and pray big. So we are. Thank you again.

Chrissy Stillwell [Organizer]