Well, it was not this particular man’s 100th pair of lungs, but the 100th double lung transplant performed at University Medical Center.

On the waiting list since January, 64-year-old William M. Moncrieff, of Surprise, is recovering well after his May 28, six-hour operation, according to a UMC news release:

Photo courtesy UMC

Moncrieff suffered years of asthma, emphysema and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). He had been hospitalized twice in Phoenix in the past several years after minor respiratory problems turned serious.

“I knew I needed a transplant when my doctors told me I was one cold away from death,” he said. “I was living on borrowed time.”

The release also states the lungs were received “from a deceased organ donor.” We sure hope. After all, if the donor were not deceased prior to having his or her lungs removed, the person surely would be afterwards.

Anyway, kudos to UMC and the docs who perform such miraculous, life-saving surgeries. In addition to the double lung transplants, the hospital has performed 55 heart-lung transplants and 51 single-lung transplants. The first double lung transplant was done in 1993 and lasted 10 years.

Organ transplants are a great thing, giving the dead the opportunity to help the living.

We should expand it, however, to include other organs and body parts that may not yet be on the list, such as a set of killer biceps, six-pack abs and awesome calf muscles.

Some folks could also use a transplant of the brain.

Is your organ donor box checked on your driver’s license?
Do you think if you received an eye transplant you would see ghostly visions of murder like in that horror movie?