Pat Donovan

Keep Pat’s Miracle Alive!

For the last six years Pat Donovan’s health declined so that even simple activities left him gasping for breath and coughing relentlessly – he was dying. Pat had Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis, a disease with no known cause, no cure and no treatment other than a double lung transplant.

He had to let go of so much – first outdoor activities with his wife, Kim and two young adult daughters, then helping with home care, eventually his ability to walk into church or to continue working, and finally the ability to get his own meals or care for himself without help. One thing he never let go of was his deep faith and his patient spirit. As he weakened, they seemed to strengthen. Pat was planning his funeral when after only 30 days on the transplant list he received THE CALL and underwent a double lung transplant on July 31, 2016. His new life began!

Pat is healing well and slowly regaining strength but returning to work is long off. Kim, who works in social service, is now the sole earner and has already depleted her paid time off caring for Pat. The uninsured transplant expenses are daunting: travel, lodging, and food for twice monthly trips from his home in central Maine to the Boston transplant clinic; co-pays and deductibles for therapies and the daily medications Pat will need for the rest of his life; and the cost of the radical dietary and lifestyle changes that are necessary to stave off infection and organ rejection.

Please consider a contribution to help Keep Pat’s Miracle Alive! To make a donation which is tax deductible to the full extent of the law, click on the Donate Now button.

Recently Pat, a man of few words, wrote this prayer:

Lord, help me to take this new breath of life that I have received and reflect the light of your love to everyone I encounter.

In the name of Pat’s whole support team,

Anne Donovan Fortier & Kurt Fortier, Pat’s sister and brother-in-law