Thousands of P.E.I. kids to get free book about the Maritimes’ oldest lung transplant recipient

Atlantic Canada’s oldest lung transplant patient is using his experience to help educate children about pulmonary fibrosis, the disease which nearly cost him his life.

John Dennis had the operation when he was 76-years-old and just turned 78-years-old this week.

Dennis is featured in a new children’s book being widely distributed on Prince Edward Island.

This week wasn’t the first time Dennis has been to the island. He biked the province last summer to raise awareness and money for research into pulmonary fibrosis treatment.

John Dennis biked 700 kilometres around Prince Edward Island to raise money for pulmonary fibrosis research. (Facebook/ I Ride for You and Me - John Dennis)

He took in nearly $29,000.

"I was the single-biggest fundraiser in Canada for the third year in a row,” said Dennis. “It's just been really, really, a fabulous journey, and I'm proud of it, and I'm proud of that book."

Author Marlene Bryenton, coordinated the ride for Dennis, and that's how she began to learn about the disease.

She's written several children’s books to help explain complex medical topics to young children, such as optometry, physiotherapy, and dentistry -- but her new one was a bit different.

"At first I resisted, I really resisted, because I thought, 'Do I really know enough about pulmonary fibrosis and organ donation to actually write a children's storybook about it?'” said Bryenton. “But it just kept nagging at me, 'You have to write this book.'"

So Bryenton teamed up with Dennis and John Robinson, both living with pulmonary fibrosis, to write “Magic Gifts.”

The cover of "Magic Gifts" by author Marlene Bryenton is pictured. (Source: marlenebryenton.com)

Unlike Dennis, Robinson has not received a transplant, he's being treated for the disease with oxygen.

With the help of her sponsors, Bryenton has given the book out for free to thousands of P.E.I. children. Every student in Grades 4, 5 and 6 will get a copy of the book.

"The teachers can actually have a health lesson and use ‘Magic Gifts’ to explain to the children about organ donation and pulmonary fibrosis,” said Bryenton. “To top that all off, the children take the storybooks home, and then the parents read them."

Bryenton adds that it will further raise awareness, and she hopes it will open a dialog about the disease between parents and their kids.

"It's important we get the message out, because if you can identify it soon enough, and start treatment soon enough, you can delay the progression of the disease," said Dennis.

Pulmonary fibrosis currently has no cure.

Dennis plans to bring back a stack of the books when he returns to Nova Scotia, and he hopes schools in his home province will share it as well.