Whilst he waited for his life-changing call, James Beeching even made his twin toddlers a touching video to remember him by, should time run out.
A young dad who made poignant recordings for his twins to remember him by, after three false alarms waiting for new lungs, has announced in an emotional Facebook video that he has finally had lifesaving surgery.
Click to Gallery
Whilst he waited for his life-changing call, James Beeching even made his twin toddlers a touching video to remember him by, should time run out.
James, a former community fundraiser who cannot currently work, was just two when he was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis – which causes the lungs to become clogged with sticky mucus.
His lung function was also in a continuous decline, leading to his assessment for a transplant, before he was added to the waiting list in January 2017.
Then, completely coincidentally, just a day after his admission to west London’s Royal Brompton Hospital to be treated, he received a phone call telling him some donor lungs had potentially become available.
“False alarms do happen, so while it was emotional, it didn’t shock me,” he said.
Two months later, that day before his June birthday, James received a second call.
Luckily, even without the transplant, James managed to spend the majority of the summer out of hospital with his family, but was still growing weaker all the time.
He recalled: “I’ve always been a logical, rational person, so I remained calm, all too aware that it could be another false alarm. Then, all of a sudden it was, ‘James, go get showered, it’s going ahead.’
Thankfully, the operation was a success and, after five weeks in hospital recovering, James was allowed home.
He said: “There’s no way I could’ve done this by myself. It took an army – a wonderful team of medics, a selfless donor, my amazing loved ones, message after message on social media and my own mental strength.
Suffering with the incurable genetic lung condition, cystic fibrosis, James Beeching, 36, whose successful transplant was in August 2018, tearfully thanked loved ones, including his primary school teacher wife Becky, 34, for their support, adding that his dream of walking his children, Isobel and Logan, four, to school had finally come true.
James, of Hastings, East Sussex, who has been documenting his post-operative recovery in a series of candid videos, said: “At first, there was so much after the transplant to get my head around, that the anxiety of something going wrong sometimes overshadowed the wonder of it all.”
He continued: “It’s almost like when you buy a second-hand car – at first, every little noise makes you nervous, but you do get more used to it as time goes on.
“Now I have moments of pure euphoria and find myself crying with joy at how easy life can be.
“I can play hide and seek with my kids, walk them to school, bring my wife breakfast in bed – all things that once seemed impossible.”
James in hospital (PA Real Life/Collect)
James, a former community fundraiser who cannot currently work, was just two when he was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis – which causes the lungs to become clogged with sticky mucus.
When he was younger, it did not hold him back and, save for daily physiotherapy and enzymes he took with every meal to aid digestion, he had a relatively normal childhood.
Then, in his late teens, his hospital stays increased, as his body became unable to fight off simple infections.
James and Becky getting married (PA Real Life/Georgina Piper - Photographer)
His lung function was also in a continuous decline, leading to his assessment for a transplant, before he was added to the waiting list in January 2017.
“After that, my health deteriorated more and more, and my hospital admissions got longer and longer,” he explained. “I’d rarely be out of hospital for more than three or four weeks, before I’d need to go back in for more intravenous antibiotics.”
Then, in April 2018, James contracted a particularly nasty infection, which he feared could spell the end.
James and his family at Christmas 2017 (PA Real Life/Collect)
Then, completely coincidentally, just a day after his admission to west London’s Royal Brompton Hospital to be treated, he received a phone call telling him some donor lungs had potentially become available.
Racing across the city, he arrived at Harefield Hospital in Hillingdon, Greater London – one of the most experienced centres in the world for heart and lung transplants – to await news.
Disappointingly, the lungs were unsuitable, but James never gave up hope.
James with his twins Isobel and Logan (Collect/PA Real Life)
“False alarms do happen, so while it was emotional, it didn’t shock me,” he said.
“I decided to record a Facebook video that night, thanking people for their support so far and encouraging them to sign up as donors if they wanted to.
“Looking back at that video now, I can see how unwell I was, struggling to breathe.”
Two months later, that day before his June birthday, James received a second call.
“That was another false alarm,” he added. “I do understand why this happens and that the organs aren’t always suitable, but it was incredibly emotionally and physically exhausting.”
Just 24 hours later, a third call came through, but, once again, the transplant could not proceed.
James and Isobel in early 2018 (PA Real Life/Collect)
Luckily, even without the transplant, James managed to spend the majority of the summer out of hospital with his family, but was still growing weaker all the time.
“Life became more difficult and my body was really struggling,” he said. “I was needing more and more oxygen and generally finding it hard to keep up.”
Then, in August 2018, James received a fourth call – and this time, the transplant went ahead.
James and the twins after his transplant (PA Real Life/Collect)
He recalled: “I’ve always been a logical, rational person, so I remained calm, all too aware that it could be another false alarm. Then, all of a sudden it was, ‘James, go get showered, it’s going ahead.’
“People ask me now if I was scared, but I really wasn’t. I knew this is what had to happen. Without a transplant, I don’t think I’d have made it through this winter. A transplant was my only hope of spending more time with my family.
“I had also said everything I needed to say to my loved ones back in April when that first call came in.”
The family at Christmas (Collect/PA Real Life)
Thankfully, the operation was a success and, after five weeks in hospital recovering, James was allowed home.
Aside from a couple of complications along the way, he is currently doing very well and his new lungs growing stronger every day.
He also continues to update his online followers about his progress and is now sharing his story to thank them for their support, as well as to encourage more people to sign up as donors.
He said: “There’s no way I could’ve done this by myself. It took an army – a wonderful team of medics, a selfless donor, my amazing loved ones, message after message on social media and my own mental strength.
“There’s not a day that goes by when I don’t think about my donor and their family. I feel so incredibly humbled and grateful by what they’ve done.
“In a way, I’m even grateful to my own lungs. It’d be easy to want to be rid of them and think they didn’t work, but actually, they got me through 36 years and helped me travel, meet my wife, have my two children and build a beautiful home.”
James back home with his family after his transplant (PA Real Life/Collect)
He continued: “If people don’t want to be organ donors, I’m not out to change that, as it’s a very personal decision. It always shocks me, though, to hear how many do want to, but haven’t got round to joining the register.
“It takes less than two minutes and it’s important to remember to share your wishes with loved ones, too, but I hope I can show that transplants do work. They help people live for many more years, and live well.”
For information, visit www.shareyourwishes.co.uk and www.livelifegivelife.org.uk
PHOENIX (AP) — An Arizona grand jury has indicted former President Donald Trump 's chief of staff Mark Meadows, lawyer Rudy Giuliani and 16 others for their roles in an attempt to overturn Trump’s loss to Joe Biden in the 2020 election.
The indictment released Wednesday names 11 Republicans who submitted a document to Congress falsely declaring that Trump won Arizona in 2020. They include the former state party chair, a 2022 U.S. Senate candidate and two sitting state lawmakers, who are charged with nine counts each of conspiracy, fraud and forgery.
The identities of seven other defendants, including Giuliani and Meadows, were not immediately released because they had not yet been served with the documents. They were readily identifiable based on descriptions of the defendants, however.
Trump himself was not charged but was referred to as an unindicted co-conspirator.
With the indictments, Arizona becomes the fourth state where allies of the former president have been charged with using false or unproven claims about voter fraud related to the election. Heading into a likely November rematch with Biden, Trump continues to spread lies about the last election that are echoed by many of his supporters.
“I will not allow American democracy to be undermined,” Democratic state Attorney General Kris Mayes said in a video released by her office. “It’s too important.”
The indictment alludes to Giuliani as an attorney “who was often identified as the Mayor” and spread false allegations of election fraud. Another defendant is referred to as Trump’s “ chief of staff in 2020,” which describes Meadows.
Descriptions of other unnamed defendants point to Mike Roman, who was Trump’s director of Election Day operations; John Eastman, a lawyer who devised a strategy to try to persuade Congress not to certify the election; and Christina Bobb, a lawyer who worked with Giuliani.
A lawyer for Eastman, Charles Burnham, said his client is innocent. Bobb did not respond to a text message seeking comment, nor did a lawyer who is representing Roman in a case in Georgia.
George Terwilliger, a lawyer representing Meadows, said he had not yet seen the indictment but if Meadows is named, “it is a blatantly political and politicized accusation and will be contested and defeated.” Giuliani's political adviser, Ted Goodman, decried what he called “the continued weaponization of our justice system.”
The 11 people who had been nominated to be Arizona’s Republican electors met in Phoenix on Dec. 14, 2020, to sign a certificate saying they were “duly elected and qualified” electors and claiming that Trump carried the state. A one-minute video of the signing ceremony was posted on social media by the Arizona Republican Party at the time. The document was later sent to Congress and the National Archives, where it was ignored.
Biden won Arizona by more than 10,000 votes. Of the eight lawsuits that unsuccessfully challenged Biden’s victory in the state, one was filed by the 11 Republicans.
Their lawsuit asked a judge to de-certify the results that gave Biden his victory in Arizona and block the state from sending them to the Electoral College. In dismissing the case, U.S. District Judge Diane Humetewa said the Republicans lacked legal standing, waited too long to bring their case and “failed to provide the court with factual support for their extraordinary claims.”
Days after that lawsuit was dismissed, the 11 participated in the certificate signing.
The Arizona charges come after a string of indictments against fake electors in other states.
In December, a Nevada grand jury indicted six Republicans on felony charges of offering a false instrument for filing and uttering a forged instrument in connection with false election certificates. They have pleaded not guilty.
Michigan’s Attorney General in July filed felony charges that included forgery and conspiracy to commit election forgery against 16 Republican fake electors. One had charges dropped after reaching a cooperation deal, and the 15 remaining defendants have pleaded not guilty.
Three fake electors also have been charged in Georgia alongside Trump and others in a sweeping indictment accusing them of participating in a wide-ranging scheme to illegally overturn the results. They have pleaded not guilty.
In Wisconsin, 10 Republicans who posed as electors settled a civil lawsuit, admitting their actions were part of an effort to overturn Biden’s victory. There is no known criminal investigation in Wisconsin.
Trump was indicted in August in federal court over efforts to cling to power after his defeat, including the fake electors scheme. The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday will hear arguments on his claim in that case that he can't be prosecuted for acts he committed while serving as president.
In early January, New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez said that state’s five Republican electors cannot be prosecuted under the current law. In New Mexico and Pennsylvania, fake electors added a caveat saying the election certificate was submitted in case they were later recognized as duly elected, qualified electors. No charges have been filed in Pennsylvania.
In Arizona, Mayes’ predecessor, Republican Mark Brnovich, conducted an investigation of the 2020 election, but the fake elector allegations were not part of that examination, according to Mayes’ office.
The so-called fake electors facing charges are Kelli Ward, the state GOP’s chair from 2019 until early 2023; state Sen. Jake Hoffman; Tyler Bowyer, an executive of the conservative youth organization Turning Point USA who serves on the Republican National Committee; state Sen. Anthony Kern, who was photographed in restricted areas outside the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6 attack and is now a candidate in Arizona’s 8th Congressional District; Greg Safsten, a former executive director of the Arizona Republican Party; energy industry executive James Lamon, who lost a 2022 Republican primary for a U.S. Senate seat; Robert Montgomery, chairman of the Cochise County Republican Committee in 2020; Samuel Moorhead, a Republican precinct committee member in Gila County; Nancy Cottle, who in 2020 was the first vice president of the Arizona Federation of Republican Women; Loraine Pellegrino, past president of the Ahwatukee Republican Women; and Michael Ward, an osteopathic physician who is married to Kelli Ward.
In a statement, Hoffman accused Mayes of weaponizing the attorney general’s office in bringing the case but didn’t directly comment on the indictment’s allegations.
“Let me be unequivocal, I am innocent of any crime, I will vigorously defend myself, and I look forward to the day when I am vindicated of this naked political persecution by the judicial process,” Hoffman said.
None of the others responded to either phone, email or social media messages from The Associated Press seeking comment.
Associated Press writers Gabe Stern and Scott Sonner in Las Vegas, Kate Brumback in Atlanta and Marc Levy in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, contributed to this report.
FILE - Mark Meadows speaks with reporters at the White House, Oct. 21, 2020, in Washington. Meadows, chief of staff for former President Donald Trump, was among those indicted Wednesday, April 24, 2024, in an Arizona election interference case. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)
FILE - Former Mayor of New York Rudy Giuliani speaks during a news conference outside the federal courthouse in Washington, Dec. 15, 2023. Guiliani, a lawyer for former President Donald Trump, was among those indicted Wednesday, April 24, 2024, in an Arizona election interference case.(AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)
FILE - Kelli Ward, with her husband Michael Ward at her side, concedes to Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., in the race for the Republican nomination to U.S. Senate, Aug. 30, 2016, at her primary night party at a hotel in Scottsdale, Ariz. Ward and her husband are two of 11 Republicans in Arizona who submitted a document to Congress falsely declaring Donald Trump had beaten Joe Biden in the state during the 2020 presidential election were charged Wednesday, April 24, 2024, with conspiracy, fraud and forgery, marking the fourth state to bring charges against "fake electors." (David Kadlubowski/The Arizona Republic via AP, File)
FILE - Arizona Rep. Jake Hoffman, R-Queen Creek, is sworn in during the opening of the Legislature at the state Capitol, Jan. 11, 2021, in Phoenix. Hoffman is one of 11 Republicans in Arizona who submitted a document to Congress falsely declaring Donald Trump had beaten Joe Biden in the state during the 2020 presidential election were charged Wednesday, April 24, 2024, with conspiracy, fraud and forgery, marking the fourth state to bring charges against "fake electors." (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, Pool, File)
FILE - Arizona Republican U.S. Senate candidate Jim Lamon poses for a photograph prior to the Arizona Republican Senate primary debate hosted by Newsmax at the Madison Center for The Arts, July 13, 2022, in Phoenix. Lemon, one of 11 Republicans in Arizona who submitted a document to Congress falsely declaring Donald Trump had beaten Joe Biden in the state during the 2020 presidential election, was charged Wednesday, April 24, 2024, with conspiracy, fraud and forgery, marking the fourth state to bring charges against "fake electors." (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File)
FILE - Republican Rep. Anthony Kern argues in support of a provision in the Arizona budget package that strips cash from Maricopa County Sheriff's Office, May 4, 2017, in Phoenix. Kern is one of 11 Republicans in Arizona who submitted a document to Congress falsely declaring Donald Trump had beaten Joe Biden in the state during the 2020 presidential election were charged Wednesday, April 24, 2024, with conspiracy, fraud and forgery, marking the fourth state to bring charges against "fake electors." (AP Photo/Bob Christie, File)
FILE - Dr. Kelli Ward, left, chair of the Arizona Republican Party, talks with a supporter of President Donald Trump as they join the crowd at a rally outside the Arizona Capitol, Nov. 7, 2020, in Phoenix. Ward is one of 11 Republicans in Arizona who submitted a document to Congress falsely declaring Donald Trump had beaten Joe Biden in the state during the 2020 presidential election were charged Wednesday, April 24, 2024 with conspiracy, fraud and forgery, marking the fourth state to bring charges against "fake electors." (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File)
