Hello my name is Rodney Bowman. I am a 58-year-old father of four who needs a life-saving lung transplant. One day in 2011, at a doctor’s visit, I was told that something was seen on my lung and after extensive testing I was told that I have Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis. I live with breathing difficulty every day and my only hope for this incurable disease in a lung transplant.

Before diagnosis, I worked for the governments as a painter and as a small entrepreneur of a painting company for more than thirty years. My wife, Linda and I raised our children in Baltimore. Life was good; we had a good home, nice church, and our kids were doing well. After diagnosis, I needed to stop working because my lung capacity had decreased significantly. I lost my livelihood, insurance and I couldn’t do the things I was used to doing like washing the car and in 2015, I couldn’t even take out the trash. Linda and my son Ray and I moved to Lima, Ohio to prepare for transplant.

The transplant team at Cleveland Clinic told me that one of the things I needed to do to prepare myself for a lung transplant was to start fundraising because even with insurance, transplants cost a lot of money. A major out of pocket expense for me will be the cost to temporarily relocate for several months to be closer to the hospital after transplant and the anti-rejection medications are very expensive. I am asking for your help to meet the challenge that I am facing. I can’t do it alone.