West Chester man back home with family after double lung transplant

WEST CHESTER, Ohio (WXIX) - After receiving a double lung transplant from a COVID-19 infection, a West Chester man is home with family and says that he is happy and healthy.

Matt Kemp, 39, received lung surgery five months ago after contracting COVID-19 in November 2021.

The father of three drove himself to the hospital the day before Thanksgiving, claiming he did not feel well. Doctors tested him for COVID-19 where his results came back positive.

He was then intubated and put in a coma.

“I really thought I was going to get a few breathing treatments and that was that,” Kemp said.

Doctors woke Kemp out of his coma to tell him he needed a double lung transplant surgery.

After two weeks, they found a near-perfect match for him.

“Knowing I had to wait for someone else’s life to go sideways, for me to continue my life, that was challenging in a lot of ways,” Kemp mentioned.

Five months post-surgery, Kemp has been at home playing with his kids and spending time with his family.

“Do I still wake up in shock that this happened to us? Of course,” Angela Kemp, Matt’s wife said. “It’s amazing how quickly we got back to life.”

While Kemp says he has no physical restrictions, he still keeps in touch with his doctors at Ohio State University Hospital and goes back for monthly check-ups.

“I’m very grateful and very thankful I get the time with my family that I do now,” Kemp added. “I would not be here without them.”

While he does not know anything about his donor, Kemp says that he is grateful to the donor’s family.

In a previous story, Angela declined to say whether Matt is vaccinated, explaining that if he were not, people might attack them, and if he were, people might say the vaccine doesn’t work.

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