"Thanks to organ donation, I was given the gift of a normal life, she said. I think about my donor a lot, especially on the anniversary of the transplant. I think about their family and what their family must have felt at the time. I just know my donor was a young female. Her family made that decision at a terrible time in their lives. I am so grateful."
"People I know who had the same transplant have passed away in front of me, but it's a blessing and amazing to feel I've had all this extra time. I don't really know why it has worked so well. Perhaps the immunosuppressants suit me well. Everybody has so many different reactions to the medications, and everyone has their own regimen."
Katie Mitchell developed Eisenmenger syndrome at age 11, causing pulmonary hypertension, irreversible lung damage and heart failure. Medics feared for her life at 15, but she received a combined heart and lung transplant at Royal Papworth Hospital in September 1987. The combined procedure is rare in the UK, with only about five performed each year. The transplant restored her health and longevity; she later received two kidney transplants in 1994 and 2015. At age 53 she is the UK's longest-surviving heart-lung transplant recipient. Thousands remain on the UK transplant waiting list.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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