Double lung transplant recipient, George Carman of New Gloucester, namesake of the New Lungs For George campaign, will be arriving home this Saturday, April 23, after spending 80 days in Manhattan recuperating from surgery.

Carman is due to arrive via Amtrak in Portland at 7:30 p.m. Carman, a volunteer firefighter for the town of New Gloucester, will be then escorted from Gray Plaza on Route 100 in downtown Gray by local fire and rescue departments to the New Gloucester Fire-Rescue Department on Route 100/202 in New Gloucester for a “Meet and Greet” with family, friends, fellow firefighters, media, and well wishers. The Meet & Greet will start at about 8:30 p.m.

Carman underwent transplant surgery on Feb. 3 at the Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center in Manhattan. Once Carman was healthy enough to leave the hospital, he and his wife stayed in a hotel while the medical staff kept a close eye on him, monitoring for organ rejection.

The Lakes Region Weekly profiled Carman’s experiences since the transplant last week.

Carman suffers with Cystic Fibrosis, an inherited disease that affects about 30,000 people in the United States. It leaves the sufferer struggling for air due to thick mucus buildup in the lungs. Gradual buildup also affects other organs, such as the pancreas, which impacts the digestive system. There have been no signs of rejection and the medical staff at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center feels as though Carman can now go home, reported New Lung campaign director Scott Doyle, who added that Carman has had an above-average lung function since the transplant, surpassing 110 percent. Carman entered Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center with a lung function of only 19 percent.

Carman will have to continue to travel to New York to monitor the new lungs, but he is relieved of a sooner-than-anticipated homecoming, Doyle said. Pre-transplant, Carman was told he may have to be in New York up to a year depending on the success/complications of the transplant.

“Carman continues to prove to medical staff today, as he has proved the 45 years of his life, that nothing, even CF, will stop him,” Doyle said.

Schedule of Events (times are approximate and subject to change):

7:30 p.m. – Carman and his family arrive at Amtrak in Portland.

8:00 p.m. – Escort participants to meet near Gray Marketplace in the Gray Plaza.

8:15 p.m. – Carman is escorted from the Gray Plaza to New Gloucester Fire & Rescue Department 611 Lewiston Road/Route100/202, New Gloucester.

8:30 p.m. – Meet & Greet Homecoming at the New Gloucester Fire & Rescue Department.