A proud mum recounted how the best day of her life was hearing her teenage daughter say 'I love you' after surviving a heart and double-lung transplant.

Charlotte Knott, 17, was given a huge welcome home as she returned to Bradford yesterday - ten weeks after undergoing the seven-hour lifesaving operation.

Doctors had told parents Wendy and Peter Knott that her lungs were in such a bad state that she would have only lived another month without surgery. They said the operation could extend her life by five years.

Speaking during the celebrations at home in Crawford Avenue, Odsal, Charlotte, who likes to be called Chaz, said what she has been through had not yet sunk in.

"I never thought I would see this day and it feels really strange to be back home and sat in the garden," said the former Wyke Manor School pupil who is aiming to be a Luvabells cheerleader for her beloved Bradford Bulls.

Her mum Wendy said there were two times they thought they would lose her.

"She had internal bleeding while she was being operated on and later when she was in intensive care she had trouble breathing - her airwaves were as narrow as a pinhead and we were so worried she wouldn't pull through," said the 40-year-old, who is separated. "It has been a difficult time for all of us, but Charlotte has had the worst of it.

"There were days when she was so down all she would do was cry. But she battled on and she's with us here today."

Her father Peter, a foreman at Butterfield Signs in Bradford, said he knew his daughter was back on the mend because she was getting her sense of humour back. He said: "She's lost two stone and a lot of her confidence but she's a tower of strength underneath. We're all so happy she's back home and with her family and friends."

Charlotte suffers a rare heart condition - primary pulmonary hypertension - which also affected her lungs and left her unable to breathe.

Last October specialists at Newcastle Freeman Hospital placed her on a transplant waiting list and gave her a special beeper to alert her when a suitable donor match was found.

That all-important call came on Sunday, March 23, when Charlotte was on a rare afternoon out with her dad at the Miryshay pub in Barkerend.

She was immediately driven home and taken to Newcastle in an ambulance.

"She left in a wheelchair but today she's walked back through the garden gate, it's amazing," said mother-of-three Wendy.

After the operation Wendy said every day was a major milestone, and after six weeks when Charlotte spoke for the first time since surgery she knew she was on the mend.

Charlotte now has to take drugs for the rest of her life to ensure her body does not reject the organs.

And Charlotte cuddled her new baby twin nieces - Leoni Marie, who has her middle name, and Taneal Jane - who were born to sister Amanda days after Charlotte's operation.

Now she is looking ahead to her 18th birthday celebrations in September and plans to go back to college next year to be a nail technician.