Local resident enjoys new breath of life

Breathing is something that most of us take for granted – it begins at birth and is practically automatic. For Chris Loftus of Gatesville, the ability to breathe is something he is thankful for every day.

Loftus was introduced by his mother, Linda Klontz, during an Aug. 10 meeting of the Gatesville Lions Club, as "one of the bravest people I know." He talked about how his life changed in November 2021 when he received a double lung transplant and what led to that day.

During his younger years, Loftus smoked and also worked at an industrial job where he should have worn a respirator but didn't.

"Being 20 years old, I thought I was invincible, I didn't worry about anything," he said. But damage to his lungs debilitated him to the point where he was unable to walk more than a few feet, and even visits to the store became impossible ordeals.

One of the reasons he wanted to speak to the Lions Club was "to bring awareness to organ donations," Loftus said. "You never know when a loved one may need something. It's just being generous. When you're gone, you're gone, and if you could help three of four people out (by donating organs), why not?"

He described receiving the lung transplant as a "very difficult process. Imagine being 50 years old and learning how to breathe again. It was very hard. I got discouraged a lot. Without family, caregivers and someone willing to put up with all the crap, I wouldn't have made it.

"A lot of times I wanted to give up, but my mom and family stayed positive and that was huge."

Loftus had the transplant done through the University of Texas Health San Antonio, which he said had a 90% success rate.

The University Health System website notes it is the top-ranked lung transplant program in the U.S., with a 100% one-year survival rate..

"The people, doctors and nurses are extremely wonderful," Loftus said. "They are so helpful even to this day. I go down about once a month to see the doctors for a checkup and will probably do that for the rest of my life."

Asked about medication he continues to take following the transplant, Loftus said, "I take 16 pills every morning – anti-rejections, vitamins, blood thinners – there's a whole lot.

"After a couple of months, I adjusted pretty well. I could walk, swim, do whatever. Before I couldn't even pick up my grandson, and I was on oxygen 24 hours a day."

While the waiting list to receive a transplant is often a year to two years, Loftus was able to receive his much sooner.

"I was very fortunate – it took two months," he said.

It is often harder to find transplants for someone who is tall – lungs have to fit just right in order to deliver the proper amount of oxygen – Loftus explained, but a lung donor in the Dallas area helped to give Loftus a new life.

"The call came at 4 o'clock in the morning and said 'get here' and I said 'OK,'" Loftus said.

There are still physical limitations but now Loftus can carry his grandson and enjoy normal activities, and he continues to make progress each day.

"I think about where I was four months ago and where I am now – it's amazing," Loftus said.

When he developed pneumonia a couple of years ago, a lung transplant became absolutely necessary, although Loftus had lived with damaged lungs for years.

"They told me at 30 years old I had the lungs of an 80-year-old man, and I said, 'whatever,'" Loftus recalled.

One of the side effects of a lung transplant sometimes is kidney failure, and Loftus experienced that almost immediately after the lung transplant. He is now on the waiting list for a kidney transplant and has to undergo dialysis three times a week.

He said kidney transplants are much more common and considered to be much easier than lung transplants.

For more information about organ transplants, visit www.universityhealthsystem.com/services/transplant-care or call 210-743-4283.