from UPI.COM

ANN ARBOR, Mich., June 8 (UPI) — Just days after a plane crash left a man without donor lungs in Ann Arbor, Mich., he was in stable condition Friday with a new set of lungs.

The 50-year-old man’s first set of donor lungs was lost when the plane carrying them crashed into Lake Michigan Monday, The Detroit Free Press reported.

Dr. Andrew Chang, surgical director at the University of Michigan, said Friday the patient would most likely have died without the transplant.

The recipient had chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder. His name is being withheld at the request of his family.

Chang said the man would remain hospitalized until he can breathe on his own.

Dr. Jeffrey Punch, director of the university’s division of transplantation, said during the procedure the surgical team was “perhaps a little more nervous than usual” because they “didn’t want things to fall through a second time.”