Brief
62‑year‑old carpenter receives first NHS lung‑in‑a‑box transplant
The operation used a portable perfusion box to revive marginal donor lungs before transplant at Birmingham’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital.
By Felo News Desk · Published
Daily Mail reported that Joe McConnell, a 62‑year‑old carpenter from Newport, South Wales, became the first patient to benefit from the NHS’s ex‑vivo machine perfusion pilot, receiving a life‑saving lung transplant at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham on 17 October 2026.
What happened
The donor lungs, which had been rejected elsewhere for being borderline, were placed in a specially‑designed “lung‑in‑a‑box” machine that supplies oxygenated blood and nutrients. The device allowed the organs to be kept alive and monitored for up to 12 hours while being transferred between three hospitals, ultimately reaching Royal Papworth Hospital in Cambridge for final assessment before being flown to Birmingham.
What the reports add
According to the Daily Mail, the pilot programme involves fifteen English hospitals equipped with perfusion machines, creating a UK and European record for the distance travelled by perfused lungs outside North America. The article notes that around 17 percent of patients on the lung‑transplant waiting list die each year, and that many lungs are discarded because they fall into a clinical “grey area”. The new technique aims to revive such organs, potentially saving up to 750 lives annually.
What was said
Joe McConnell told the Mail on Sunday ten weeks after surgery: “I was dying… I was grey, I was blue and I was down… Everyone now tells me how well I look. In comparison with 10 weeks ago, I’m a different person.” The article also quotes Ellie Johnson, Heart and Lung Transplant Coordinator at Royal Papworth, describing the procedure as “the furthest perfused lungs have ever travelled for transplantation outside North America”.
How it came about
The ex‑vivo perfusion method has previously been used in the UK for hearts, kidneys and livers. Royal Papworth Hospital, located on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus, leads the pilot study that seeks to extend the technique to marginal lungs, offering a new pathway for patients like McConnell who suffer from idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.
Key facts
- Joe McConnell, 62, received a lung transplant using ex‑vivo perfusion technology. (dailymail.co.uk)
- The lungs traveled through three hospitals and were kept alive in a perfusion box for up to 12 hours. (dailymail.co.uk)
- Fifteen English hospitals are equipped with similar perfusion machines. (dailymail.co.uk)
- Around 17% of patients on the UK lung‑transplant list die each year while waiting. (dailymail.co.uk)
Sources
- [1] dailymail.co.uk — originally reported as “Father-of-two carpenter, 62, gets life-saving lung transplant”
