Mutton chops and a bushy handlebar mustache. An indomitable, ultracool personality. An endearing smile that no one could resist. Dyspnea on exertion, orthopnea, and 2+ edema to his calves from a disease that was bringing death closer and closer. This blessed and cursed man was Charlie South.
With each passing month after his diagnosis, his wife Catherine grew more speechless: speechless in love with him, speechless in fear for him. Happily, it was our lung transplant team that had the good fortune of making his dream of “extra days” come true: “Charlie, we have a single lung for you. Come to the hospital for your transplant.”