DAVID Horsfall was fit and healthy until he came down with a cough and cold in 2009.

Now the Meltham man needs a double lung transplant after being diagnosed with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, an incurable lung disease.

For David, 54, a transplant is his only option of regaining his health.

His wife, Hilary, who works in the ticket office for Huddersfield Town, has spoken of their plight as the club hosts its second Support Organ Donation match.

Five of the club’s players have pledged to join the organ donor register. They are Lee Novak, Anthony Gerrard, Alex Smithies, Scott Arfield and Sean Scannell.

Hilary praised the club’s efforts to promote the organ donor register and said: “It all started a couple of weeks before Christmas 2009 when David had a cold and a cough, it was quite a bad one, and he never got over it.”

Doctors prescribed antibiotics and the former joiner returned to work, but the cough persisted.

“He was sent for an X-ray but they didn’t seem too concerned with what it showed,” Hilary added.

“By Christmas 2010 I noticed that he couldn’t speak a sentence without having to cough – I knew something wasn’t right so we went to the doctors and it’s all gone from there.”

A CT scan showed fibres on his lungs so David needed a biopsy which confirmed he had idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF).

He remains breathless and now uses oxygen and still has the cough. He returned to work but soon it became too difficult and he left in January this year.

Hilary added: “He’s gone from being active, fit and healthy, we enjoyed walking and cycling but it’s rare we go out now.

“The only cure is an organ donation.

“It’s a quick disease and when he was diagnosed he asked the doctor ‘how long have I got?’ and he said it could be three months it could be 20 years, the average is three years.”

David is now on the organ donor list for the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle – there are already 80 people on the list and 15 of them are of his blood group.

But because he needs a double organ transplant, he needs to wait for a suitable organ to become available.

Hilary added: “It’s totally changed our lives, we’ve brilliant family and friends who are helping and work have been great letting me go part-time.

“The game against Bolton will raise awareness of the organ donor register and hopefully encourage people to join.

“If you sign up that’s all you have to do while you’re living, but it allows your organs to be used after death which means someone else can live.

“Until you face it you don’t realise how important it is. He was fit and healthy and then this happens.”

Huddersfield Town will hold their second donor day this Saturday, against Bolton at the John Smith’s Stadium.

After the first donor match the organ donor register was boosted by 9,000 people.

Dubbed the Give and Let Live match, the club is offering special ticket deals for NHS staff.

Yorkshire Heart Research and Organ Donation and Transplantation staff will be there handing leaflets out and talking about the issue and Peter Hall, a surgeon at Huddersfield Royal Infirmary, will also speak to fans about the importance of signing up to the organ donation register.

Tickets for the match are from £21 for adults and £5 for juniors, in advance (excluding special offers)

TOWN players will be encouraging fans to become organ donors when The Terriers play Bolton Wanderers.

The appeal follows a successful organ donors appeal when Town played Oldham Athletic last season.

Huddersfield Town Chairman Dean Hoyle (inset) said: “Supporting the organ donation drive is very important as it can make a massive difference to people directly affected.

“As a man with a family I would ask everyone to think about how it could affect you and the people you love and I would urge everyone that can to register their interest.”

There are currently more than 10,000 people across the UK who need an organ transplant.

On average, three people a day die before they get a transplant because there are not enough organs available.

In the UK between April 1, 2011 and March 31 2012 3,960 organ transplants were carried out, thanks to the generosity of 2,143 donors.

Nationally almost 942,000 more people pledged to help others after their death by registering their wishes on the NHS Organ Donor Register, bringing the total to 18,693,549 (March 2012).

To join call the NHS Donor Line on 0300 123 23 23 or visit www.organdonation.nhs.uk .

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