A former county GAA star had a double lung transplant after being diagnosed with a disease similar to one that killed his three siblings.
A cough that wouldn’t go away ended up with David Crosby, from Co Meath, being admitted to the Mater Hospital for urgent treatment in 2016.
After being assessed, doctors told him he had to have his two lungs replaced in a major operation after developing life-limiting illness idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.
David said: “It was like the ground opened up and my whole world just collapsed.
“Your brain doesn’t get a minute to condense it all and process what is happening.”
IPF is a type of lung disease that results in scarring, or fibrosis, of the lungs for an unknown reason.
Over time the scarring gets worse and it becomes hard to take in a deep breath and the lungs cannot take in enough oxygen.
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David said: “My siblings got sick at 10 days old and refused their bottle.
“Regina developed a breathing problem at seven months and Paul lived until he was two. Ciaran lived until he was 11 and he was on the transplant list for a heart and lungs.
“He died from pulmonary fibrosis disease and it looks like we had similar health issues.
“They didn’t have the technology to diagnose what it was.”
David said he was left worried after being called in to see a specialist in Dublin.
He added: “Alarm bells go off when you hear the word transplant and you think of your wife, children and friends. You wonder if it is the best option.
“The biggest thing was being strong for my family because they were going through the trauma as well.
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“It was important not to put them in worst scenario.”
The 43-year-old got the news that he needed the transplant in December 2016 and three months later he was under the knife.
David said: “From being diagnosed with IPF to getting the transplant was about six months, it was very quick.”
However, the father of three was warned he had to lose weight before doctors would operate.
He said: “I had to do 40 different tests and I passed them all except for my BMI, so they wouldn’t put me on the list until I lost two-and-a-half stone.
“We are Irish and we always clean the pot and eat the last spud on the plate.
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“I didn’t starve myself but I lost two- and-a-half stone in two years.
Recalling the operation, David said: “I remember getting into the back of the ambulance and I was blue lighted all the way to Dublin.
“I said goodbye to my three small children, my sister, my wife and my mum and dad. It was very traumatic.
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