North Derbyshire couple thanks NHS for husband's double lung transplant by hosting Christmas lights show in their garden

Mark Peacock of North Wingfield has suffered from pulmonary fibrosis for seven years and had to use an oxygen cylinder to help him cope with daily tasks such as getting dressed and showering.

He was put on a lung transplant list 18 months ago and had his hopes built up twice that he would undergo surgery but it was not to be. However, a dawn call on October 11 from Wythenshawe Hospital informed Mark that that they had a suitable donor for him.

Mark was put into an induced coma and wheeled into theatre with his wife Julie by his side. Julie said: “I was so scared and so was he. The transplant took 11 hours so when I got a call at 4.15am I just cried knowing that Mark was out of surgery and the transplant had gone as well as it could have. When I saw him the next morning I was so emotional seeing him hooked up to lots of machines in ICU. Thirty-six hours later he was sat up in bed with his eyes open talking to me and and after just five days in ICU he was put back onto the Jim Quick transplant ward.

“The surgeon said the lungs that he took out of Mark were like prunes and that he’s given him a really good set of lungs. In time, we’d like to try and make contact with the donor’s family to see if they would like to speak."

Mark, a storeman at a galavanising company, defied doctors who warned him last year that he would spend seven to 10 days in intensive care and have a five to six week stay in hospital. Three weeks after his major operation he was allowed to return home. Julie said: “Because he’s carried on going to work, it’s helped his case by keeping him active and as fit as he possibly could be.”

He now has to take anti-rejection drugs, build up his strength through walking and a treadmill and use nebulisers at home to check for fungal infections and to clear his chest, the latter procedure taking two hours each day. There are visits to Wythenshawe Hospital in Manchester once or twice a week for blood tests and biopsies to check that his new lungs aren’t being rejected.

Mark said: “I’m feeling good. My lung capacity was at 83 and I’m now at 95 or 96. I can breathe without machines – I was taken off oxygen about seven days after the operation. It’s given me a new lease of life.”

He is taking every precaution to avoid coming into contact with anyone who may be unwittingly carrying a bug. The biggest hardship is that he hasn’t been able to see his four school-age grandchildren since coming out of hospital.

Julie, 57, who is employed in the direct payment team at Derbyshire County Council, said: “We’ve been told that we haven’t got to isolate but to be very careful with who we are mixing with and that it’s better to keep away from crowds. I normally have a season ticket for Derby County but I’m not going to football and I’m not going to any Christmas parties which I’ve been invited to because it’s not worth the risk of catching infection so early into Mark’s recovery.”

But that hasn’t stopped the couple from deciding to run their outdoor Christmas lights show to raise money for Wythenshawe Hospital after their efforts last year brought in more than £4,000. Julie said: “We are going to put some decorations on the front where there will be a Letter to Santa box going up and a donation box. We have just ordered an NHS light so that can go up as a nice thank you.

"In all honesty we thought that it could have possibly been Mark’s last Christmas this year so I really wanted to make sure the decorations were put up. I put a message on Facebook asking for some volunteers to help.”

The decorations have been scaled down from the 2022 display when the front, side and back gardens and summerhouse were adorned with coloured lights and seasonal characters. Julie said: “It’s too risky because we’d be going out talking to everybody every night. At the moment we don’t feel like we can celebrate because there is still a long way to go….we will make up for it next year.”