Double-lung transplant patient finishes full New York City Marathon

Double-lung transplant patient Tim Sweeney finishes full New York City Marathon in 7 hours
BY Simone Weichselbaum, Ryan Lavis and Henrick Karoliszyn

New York Daly News

It took Tim Sweeney almost seven hours to finish the New York City Marathon but he walked on air every step of the way.

The 33-year-old medical miracle competed in the epic race Sunday with a new set of lungs after receiving a double transplant a year ago.

Sweeney was one of 43,000 to compete in the New York City Marathon on Sunday.

Photo: Ruttle/AP

"It was so much more than I expected. It was overwhelming," Sweeney said after clocking in at just under six hours and 55 minutes. "I didn't care about time. I really wanted to finish. It meant a lot to me."

Sweeney, a personal trainer from Connecticut, suffered from cystic fibrosis, but always stayed active.

In 2007, however, he lost 80% of his lung capacity. He underwent the transplants at New York-Presbyterian Hospital Columbia last year.

If Sweeney had any doubts along the 26.2-mile course, he had his surgeon, Dr. Joshua Sonett, running with him every step of the way. "When he said he wanted to run the marathon ... I didn't know if it was the right thing. But he did it, and he did it safely," said Sonett, a five-time marathoner.

Sweeney was one of 43,000 runners to compete Sunday in a field filled with inspirational and dramatic stories.

Gebre Gebremariam, 26, of Ethiopia, won the men's race in his first try after watching fellow countryman and world recordholder Haile Gebrselassie suffer a career-ending injury at the 16-mile mark.

Kenya's Edna Kiplagat, in the women's category, was another surprise winner, capturing her first major marathon title in 2:28:20. Officer Jose Benitez, 26, became the all-time recordholder for any of New York's Finest to ever run the race, finishing 102nd overall in just 2 hours and 39 minutes.

"It's awesome. It's a tremendous honor," Benitez said after crossing the finish line. "I spend six hours on my feet every day. It makes me tougher. You gotta be healthy to protect people."

All were cheered along by hundreds of thousands of spectators lining the course, holding signs, clapping and banging cowbells. "It's one of the best New York experiences you can have," said Mike Ryan, a 42-year-old union rep who watched in Park Slope, Brooklyn.

"It never gets old. It's a good tradition," said Stephen Pannone, 53, of Windsor Terrace, Brooklyn. "We love to come out here, drink hot chocolate and yell for the runners. It's always worth it. We always have a good time."

After the runners passed, the Sanitation Department sprung into action.

More than a ton of plastic bottles and nearly 2 million paper cups, weighing more than 6 tons, were collected for recycling, officials said

“You Have the Power to Save Lives – Register to be an organ and tissue donor & Tell Your Loved Ones of Your Decision”

Register to be a donor in Ontario at Trillium Gift of Life Network NEW for Ontario: recycleMe.org - Learn The Ins & Outs Of Organ And Tissue Donation. Register Today! For other Canadian provinces click here

In the United States, be sure to find out how to register in your state at ShareYourLife.org or Download Donor Cards from OrganDonor.Gov

In Great Britain, register at NHS Organ Donor Register

In Australia, register at Australian Organ Donor Register

Your generosity can save or enhance the lives of up to fifty people with heart, kidneys, liver, lungs, pancreas and small intestine transplants (see allotransplantation). One tissue donor can help by donating skin, corneas, bone, tendon, ligaments and heart valves

Has your life been saved by an organ transplant? "Pay it forward" and help spread the word about the need for organ donation - In the U.S. another person is added to the national transplant waiting list every 11 minutes and 18 people die each day waiting for an organ or tissue transplant. Organs can save lives, corneas renew vision, and tissue may help to restore someone's ability to walk, run or move freely without pain. Life Begins with You

Man To Run New York City Marathon After Double Lung Transplant

FAIRFIELD, Conn. (CBS 2) — A Connecticut man is running his first marathon next month. That might not sound unusual except for the fact that last fall he couldn’t walk across a room.

One year ago, Tim Sweeney could barely walk without wearing an oxygen mask. One year ago, both Tim and his wife, Beth, believed his days were numbered, reports CBS 2′s Dana Tyler.

“I always knew there was something different when I grew up. I always had a slight cough in the morning, but as the day went on, it became less and less,” Tim said.

For years, he had no idea that he’d been diagnosed with cystic fibrosis when he was 2 years old. Cystic fibrosis is a genetic disorder in which the body produces a thick mucous that clogs the lungs and hampers digestion.

Tim never missed a day of school, though. His mother gave him the proper medications; his father pushed him to be athletic. They didn’t label him.

“He was so young. We didn’t want to stop him from doing anything, to be as normal as possible, to play with his brothers and do what everybody else did, so we didn’t tell him when he was young,” Tim’s mother, Rose Sweeney, said.

Tim was always athletic. He finished college and worked as a fitness trainer. When he and Beth started dating, she heard something in his chest, and insisted he see a doctor.

“They asked, ‘how long have you known you had cystic fibrosis,’ and I was 26, 27, and I was like, ‘whoa,’” Tim said. “To me, it was a bombshell. Now, all of a sudden, it was real. I looked it up, life expectancy was 37 or something. It was a major shock.”

That was in 2004. Tim said he felt fine and always thought he could beat it, but in 2007 – soon after the couple married – his health began to decline.

They were able to have a baby through in vitro fertilization, but doctors told the new father he had 18 months to live if he didn’t undergo a lung transplant.

Tim recalled the agonizing wait for a donor.

“There’s someone out there leading a normal life. Typically it’s an accident victim, so it’s sudden,” Tim said. “It’s such a tragic and beautiful thing all at once. You know it’s going to happen.”

When his normal treatments failed last fall, Tim was unable to breathe on his own. With double pneumonia, Sweeney was quickly moved to the top of the list for a rare double lung transplant.

“I was 120 pounds, I was so weak, eyes sunken in, losing hair,” Tim said.

After three false alarms, Dr. Joshua Sonnett transplanted the lungs of a 25-year-old accident victim last Nov. 10, saving Tim Sweeney’s life.

“Medically, he was at a point, he was around 20 percent of where he should be. He lost 80 percent of his lung function,” Dr. Sonnett said. “Once you get in the 20 percent range, basically in a window, if he got an infection he could have died.”

Only 100 double lung transplants are performed in the United States each year. Tim woke up in intensive care wondering how the transplant went, when Dr. Sonnett shocked him with a question.

“He said, ‘I understand you’re a trainer. I just did the NYC marathon,’ and I thought that would have been great, especially with new lungs,” Tim said. “He said, ‘Why don’t we do that?’”

“He said, ‘I’ll run it with you next year.’ I didn’t expect him to do it,” Dr. Sonnett said. “[But] I knew he could, I knew he could.”

Dr. Sonnett said Tim’s lifelong commitment to a good diet and exercise – even walking the hospital corridors with weights – ensured his speedy recovery. He was released from the hospital in a week, and there’s still been no infection and no rejection.

“He woke up every night, for every night for two years, having coughing fits,” Beth said. “[Now] there was no coughing, no heavy breathing, no oxygen sound. I’m lying there, dead silent – we just started laughing.”

And now, there’s no stopping him. Beth designed T-shirts to raise money for medical costs and cystic fibrosis, and be his coach.

“I try to get him to lengthen his stride and lean forward a bit,” Beth said. “I run behind him on these things so he doesn’t get an injury that day.”

The little boy with the cough now has wings on his heels, and he doesn’t run alone. He’s grateful to his doctors, the donor and his family.

“It felt like something…I was doing something I was born to do,” Tim said. “This is what came natural to me, to go outside and go running.”

Tim Sweeney’s first marathon will be on Nov. 7, and even though it’s Dr. Sonnett’s fourth, he said it’ll be tough keeping up with Tim and his new lungs.

Tim and Beth hope his story inspires others waiting for organ transplants – that they know that yes, it’s a long and often dire road, but there are heroes all around us sharing the gift of life.

“You Have the Power to Save Lives – Register to be an organ and tissue donor & Tell Your Loved Ones of Your Decision”

Register to be a donor in Ontario at Trillium Gift of Life Network NEW for Ontario: recycleMe.org - Learn The Ins & Outs Of Organ And Tissue Donation. Register Today! For other Canadian provinces click here

In the United States, be sure to find out how to register in your state at ShareYourLife.org or Download Donor Cards from OrganDonor.Gov

In Great Britain, register at NHS Organ Donor Register

In Australia, register at Australian Organ Donor Register

Your generosity can save or enhance the lives of up to fifty people with heart, kidneys, liver, lungs, pancreas and small intestine transplants (see allotransplantation). One tissue donor can help by donating skin, corneas, bone, tendon, ligaments and heart valves

Has your life been saved by an organ transplant? "Pay it forward" and help spread the word about the need for organ donation - In the U.S. another person is added to the national transplant waiting list every 11 minutes and 18 people die each day waiting for an organ or tissue transplant. Organs can save lives, corneas renew vision, and tissue may help to restore someone's ability to walk, run or move freely without pain. Life Begins with You

Join Fresh Air Fund Racers at NYC Marathon Nov 7th

On November 7th, the Fresh Air Fund-Racers will take to the streets at the NYC Marathon! Over the past four years as a NY Road Runners charity partner for the NYC Half-Marathon, 325 Fund-Racers have raised close to $400,000 for The Fresh Air Fund! Now The Fresh Air Fund is looking for runners and sponsors to join the Fresh Air Fund Racers Team for the NYC Marathon on November 7th

One of my favorite charities, The Fresh Air Fund, makes it possible for boys and girls, six to 12 years old, who reside in low-income communities in New York City to enjoy the experience of spending two weeks of life outside the city each summer. The New York City Half-Marathon has been a major fundraiser for the Fresh Air Fund and here is another great way to participate in the New York City Marathon, NYC's premier race, while helping fresh air fund children. For more info and to enter: http://freshair.org/racers

“You Have the Power to Save Lives – Register to be an organ and tissue donor & Tell Your Loved Ones of Your Decision”

Register to be a donor in Ontario at Trillium Gift of Life Network NEW for Ontario: recycleMe.org - Learn The Ins & Outs Of Organ And Tissue Donation. Register Today! For other Canadian provinces click here

In the United States, be sure to find out how to register in your state at ShareYourLife.org or Download Donor Cards from OrganDonor.Gov

In Great Britain, register at NHS Organ Donor Register

In Australia, register at Australian Organ Donor Register

Your generosity can save or enhance the lives of up to fifty people with heart, kidneys, liver, lungs, pancreas and small intestine transplants (see allotransplantation). One tissue donor can help by donating skin, corneas, bone, tendon, ligaments and heart valves

Has your life been saved by an organ transplant? "Pay it forward" and help spread the word about the need for organ donation - In the U.S. another person is added to the national transplant waiting list every 11 minutes and 18 people die each day waiting for an organ or tissue transplant. Organs can save lives, corneas renew vision, and tissue may help to restore someone's ability to walk, run or move freely without pain. Life Begins with You