Olympian gets more than gold...

I stumbled across this story published on August 14, 2008 in the Biddford-Saco-Old Orchard Beach Courier. It’s titled “Olympian gets more than gold – ‘Miracle’ meeting to add to medals” (Adobe pdf file) and it was written by Gillian Graham:

Robert Juneau went to the National Kidney Foundation U.S. Transplant Games expecting to compete — not encounter a miracle.

Juneau, a double lung transplant recipient and Sanford native, traveled to Pittsburg in July for the games. There, he met the family of his donor in a chance encounter on the street — a miracle he calls an “emotional burst.”

Juneau, 38, was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis, a genetic disease that affects the lungs, pancreas and other organs, at age 2. By the time he was 10, he was bleeding from his lungs, requiring repeated stays in the hospital to receive intravenous antibiotics. The bleeding episodes escalated when he was 26 and that year he underwent a lung embolization.

Juneau then led a fairly normal life until 35 when his health began to rapidly deteriorate. Forced to stop working and wear a continuous oxygen device to aid breathing, he was considered sick enough to move near the top of a lung transplant list. Juneau said the process of being added to the list took three to four months and included a barrage of tests and psychological evaluations.

In March 2007 — 11 months after being placed on the list — Juneau was still waiting for new lungs. A table tennis player since childhood, he hadn’t played recently because of his health.

“I thought my outlook didn’t look good and I wanted to play one more time,” he said.

His wife, Mary, drove Juneau to a table tennis club near their Syracuse, N.Y., home and stood behind him while he played in case he fell. Juneau said he decided then if he ever did get a transplant he would start playing table tennis competitively again.

Ten minutes after arriving home from the club, Juneau received the call he was waiting for: a set of lungs was waiting for him at Massachusetts General Hospital.

“It was exciting and scary at the same time,” he said. “I just wanted to start living a normal life again.”

Juneau underwent a successful double lung transplant and was released from the hospital 24 days later. Back home and recovering, Juneau ordered a new table tennis paddle, despite being too weak to play for another month. When he was able to resume activity, Juneau played table tennis, walked, rode a bike and lifted weights to gain strength.

“I’m probably in the best shape of my life right now,” he said.

Juneau first heard of the July 11 through 15 transplant games from a nurse and conducted his own research about the event. Once he saw table tennis and badminton listed as events, Juneau decided to attend as part of Team Central New York. Juneau won a gold medal in table tennis and silver in badminton.

“It was exciting,” he said. “It was a huge thrill for me because I worked really hard to get there.”

It turns out the thrills didn’t end at closing ceremonies. Following the competition, Juneau and his wife headed back to their hotel. Looking for food, they walked to a local convenience store at 11:30 p.m. — only to find it closed. As they walked back into the hotel lobby, Juneau noticed a man in a Red Sox hat and New England T-shirt sitting outside with his daughter.

“I figured he was from New England, so I decided to turn around and talk to him,” Juneau said.

The man, Tim Packhem, told Juneau he was at the games with his wife, Cari, and daughter, Hannah. The Packhems had taken a bus to the wrong hotel and were looking for a cab when Juneau ran into them.

As the men continued to talk, Packhem said his 16-year-old son, Tim “Timbo” Packhem, had died the previous year in a “freak skateboarding accident.” Packhem said his son’s lungs had gone to a man in his 50s with cystic fibrosis.

At that point, Juneau began to wonder who the lungs had really gone to. Not many transplants were performed around that time and Juneau knew a man in his 50s who had a lung transplant shortly after his own — but that man did not have cystic fibrosis.

Then Packhem revealed the date his son died: March 13, 2007, the same day Juneau received the call for his transplant. Cari Packhem, Tim’s stepmother, said the recipient was actually in his 30s and started discussing a letter she received from the lung recipient’s wife, whose name she could not remember. As she recited a sentence from the letter, Mary Juneau finished it for her.

Under the most unlikely circumstances, Juneau had found his donor’s family.

“It was marvelous,” Juneau said. “Every day on the way home from work I wondered what it would be like to meet my donor family.”

The families hugged and laughed and cried, all at the same time. After a few minutes, the group moved into the hotel lobby to call Tim’s mother, Paula Packhem, who was also attending the games.

Paula Packhem was on a bus from the closing ceremonies to her hotel when she got the call. The games had been emotional for her, part of the healing process, and she burst into tears at the news. A representative from New England Organ Bank was with her and called to confirm Juneau had received Tim’s lungs.

“I could not help but think my son’s lungs are sustaining this man’s life,” Paula Packhem said. “It’s an amazing feeling.”

Juneau said word of the chance meeting spread to others at the hotel attending the games, leading to a celebration until 2:30 a.m. Juneau said organ banks generally organize meetings between donor families and recipients, a process he worried would leave him anxious.

“To have it happen this way was awesome,” he said.

The following weekend, the Juneaus traveled to Warwick, R.I., to visit the Packhem family, learn more about Tim and meet his closest friends.

Paula Packhem said her son was very gregarious and fun, extremely caring and a friend to kids who weren’t in the mainstream. She still hears stories about how Tim touched the lives of those around him.

“He was just a good, good solid young man,” she said.

Shortly before he died, Tim was looking at his mom’s license and teasing her about the “horrible” photo. He asked about the heart sign indicating she was an organ donor and then said he would also like to be a donor. The entire conversation lasted three minutes, she said.

“I knew his heart,” Paula Packhem said. “I knew that’s what he wanted to do.”

Paula Packhem said meeting Juneau and seeing his desire to know more about Tim has been a “neat” thing.

“That’s been the true light of this whole story,” she said. “He cherishes this gift and takes such good care of himself.”

Juneau said meeting Tim’s family has brought him closure. After the transplant, he wondered about the donor’s family and prayed for them each day. He said he now feels at ease because of the “miracle” of meeting Tim’s family.

“It gave me closure,” he said. “It gave me a whole new perspective on life.”

For Paula Packhem, knowing Tim’s organs have saved others also provides comfort.

“It’s truly, in the most difficult time in your life, a blessing,” she said. “There are moments when that pulls me through, to know in a big way a small part of Tim lives on.”