Tyler's Lung Fund

Tyler was diagnosed with Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis back on February 2, 2015. He is 24 years old. Tyler got sick around Thanksgiving, 2014. They told him he had phenomena. He never got better, but he continued to work. A week before Christmas, 2014, he was admitted into Pardee hospital. The doctors still believed he had phenomena. After multiple tests, his doctors decided to do a lung biopsy. The biopsy was sent to New York to be examined. The biopsy showed Tyler had scarred tissue in his lungs. At that point, an appointment was made with a pulmonary specialist in Chapel Hill.

Tyler proposed to his wife, Brittany, before he had gotten sick. She told him she wasn’t going anywhere, and they tied the knot on May 2, 2015. When Tyler was diagnosed on February 2, 2015, he had 33% lung function. Since he was diagnosed he, his wife, and his parents have had many medical expense thrown at them. Tyler has been on many medications. One, of which, costs $100,000/year. On top of this, Tyler travels to Chapel Hill Hospital, every 6 weeks for routine check-ups with his lung specialist. These check-ups last from two days to a week. There have been constant medical, hotel, gas, food, and misc. costs coming in while they make these trips. Tyler has been on oxygen 24/7 since before he was diagnosed. On August 18th, Tyler made the decision be out on the lung transplant list.

September 10th Tyler was admitted to ICU at UNC Hospital. He had contracted a cold. Tuesday, September 15, Tyler was resting on 20 liters of oxygen with another 15 liter bag on his face. In the wee hours of Wednesday morning, September 16, we began living out our worst nightmare- this was only the start. Early Wednesday morning, Tyler was put on a ventilator to save his life. Before Tyler “went under” he couldn’t talk, but he asked his wife to hand him his phone. He typed out something and sent it to Brittany. He turned his phone around and it said, “Tell Lobo (his doctor) I’m a FIGHTER!!!”. The last thing Tyler remembers is that he was going to be put on this respirator, and he would be awake within 5 hours.. Before noon the same day, Tyler went into surgery. He received a Lung In A Box, trach, a feeding tube, and a catheter put in the side of his neck for multiple feeding tubes. Sadly, within 24 hours of his surgery, his organs began to shut down. The doctor did an emergency heart bypass surgery on Friday morning, September 18th in hopes that it would jump start his organs.

The past two weeks our family has been on the world's worst roller coaster. Tyler’s doctors have reached to transplant units all over the country asking if they’ve ever had a lung transplant patient like Tyler. No one has ever seen a case like Tyler’s. They have called in a physical therapy team to help Tyler gain strength. His doctor has also brought in another special team of doctors to make sure Tyler isn’t being “overworked”. All eyes are on Tyler at this point.

This is a VERY condensed version of what Tyler, his wife, and his family have gone through in a matter of a few short days. Tyler is no longer strong enough, at this point, to be on the transplant list. Tyler has a long way to go before he is able to be replaced back on the transplant list. Tyler is currently fighting for his life at UNC Hospital; he is in critical condition. While most of his vital signs have improved, we are still in desperate need of support and prayer.


We have created a page for our prayer warriors to leave comments of enouragment, scripture, memories, pictures, ect. Posts are made, daily, on Tyler's progress. We want this page to go viral, so when Tyler is healed, he can see just how many people have been standing by his side through this trial. Here is the link: Tyler's Testimony. Please "LIKE" and "SHARE".