Jack Dykinga Status Update, May 20, 2014

Jack Dykinga – Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist, world-renowned landscape photographer, and Visionary Wild instructor – has recently been hospitalized due to progression of a chronic lung condition called Ideopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis that he has been living with for the past three years. He is presently at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Phoenix, Arizona, awaiting a double lung transplant. He is considered an excellent candidate for the procedure as he is otherwise fit and in good health, but it is of course a major procedure that involves some risk and potential for complications. Fortunately, there have been major recent advances in both the procedure and after care for lung transplants, and his transplant team has an excellent track record, so Jack’s chances of a successful outcome are very good indeed. Jack is expected to undergo surgery sometime in the next few weeks, after which time he will have a carefully managed recovery of two to three months.

Though presently bored and frustrated that he finds himself more or less confined to a hospital bed and breathing apparatus for the time being, Jack is in reasonably good spirits and very good hands. He has the benefit of the support of his loving family, countless loyal friends, and a top-notch team of medical professionals. While Jack certainly appreciates your support and well-wishes, he asks that any correspondence be sent without expectation of a reply, as his hands are already full keeping up with other obligations. He also discourages phone calls until further notice, as his breathing apparatus makes conversation impossible. Those who wish to send cards may mail them to the following address:

We hope you will join all of us at Visionary Wild in supporting Jack through this difficult time. We wish him a speedy and successful recovery, and we look forward to seeing him walking tall with a spring in his step once again.