By day six, when we next meet, there’s positive news.
Sam is already getting out of his chair for physiotherapy.
“The first day I got out of bed was painful,” he reveals.
“All the physios, the nurses, they’re really good. They push you but you need to be pushed, and push yourself as well.
“They say I’m progressing very well… every day’s a better day.”
Three-and-a-half weeks after his operation, Sam is out of hospital and recovering at home.
He will spend the first three months being regularly monitored and tested for any signs of infection or rejection of his new lungs.
For the rest of his life Sam will have to take a cocktail of medication: he tells me he is currently on 65 tablets a day, although this will decrease.
His immune system has to be permanently weakened to stop it from attacking his new lungs, leaving him vulnerable to infections and even certain types of skin cancer.
But for Sam, all of that is a small price to pay.
“Knowing that I’m going to be here for my family, knowing that I don’t need to worry about not being here… and that my wife and kids will have to do things without me,” he says.
A tear wells up and runs down Sam’s cheek. Wiping it away, he continues: “No money in the world can give me what that donor gave to me. My donor is a true hero.”