Charlotte’s New Beginning

At 17 years old, my life was coming to a close having been told that, without a life-saving double lung transplant, I would die.  The feelings I felt towards this were indescribable.  I couldn’t do the simplest of tasks and was relying on my family to help me with everything. I was on oxygen 24 hours a day and needed to use a wheelchair when I went out.

My education was suffering as I wasn’t able to do my A levels. My dream was always to get myself to university and prove that even with a life threatening illness I could still do everything my friends were doing.  At this point I wasn’t living, just surviving.

Ten months after being put on the transplant list I received my one and only call. The first unassisted breath I took after my transplant was amazing. From that moment on I could take a (painful) deep breath. It took around eight months after my transplant for life to really start to settle. Hospital appointments were being reduced and I was able to regain my independence. 11 months after my transplant I went back to college to gain my A levels and was able to walk with my little sister to her first day at school – all without being breathless!

I am now celebrating my fifth anniversary from having received my life-saving double lung transplant. I’m hoping to jump of out of a plane to show how organ donation really has changed my life. I have been able to fulfill my dream and go to university, starting my third year this autumn.  I have also been able to travel and have been on five different holidays

just this year! I work just like any other student and make sure that I make the most of what life has to offer.

In just five years I have gone from thinking about my death and what I will be missing out on, to enjoying every second of life. My donor has turned what was the end of my life into the beginning of a whole new journey for me.  Thank you could never be enough.