Last year I was on 24-hour oxygen, now after a transplant I can walk up to four miles a day

Gerry Fitzgerald was shocked to hear his shortness of breath was due to incurable pulmonary fibrosis. He was on oxygen 24 hours a day for two years until he received a lung transplant in 2021. Living in Co Tipperary, he now walks up to four miles a day

Gerry Fitzgerald at his home in Tipperary Town. Picture Dan Linehan

The big red flag was shortness of breath. Gerry Fitzgerald would be out walking and have to stop for a rest.

“I’d always been extremely active. If I wasn’t busy in the workshop, I’d be out for a walk,” says the dad-of-two, who worked as a maintenance fitter in a factory.