The family of a woman who died from an incurable genetic disease is urging people to carry donor cards.

Joanna Burnley died from cystic fibrosis last Thursday.

The 30-year-old, of Hillcroft Rise, Pudsey, had been on a waiting list for a double lung transplant since July 1998.

Her brother Simon Birkbeck, 35, husband Darren, 36, and parents Jeanne, 60, and Peter, 66, were at her bedside in Seacroft Hospital's cystic fibrosis unit during her final moments.

"It was awful to watch her deteriorate but she was a fighter to the end. We believe it wasn't her will or spirit that ran out, it was the fact that her body packed in," said Simon, a corporate dealer, of Glenholme Road, Pudsey. "It's just a shame she never got to the top of the waiting list for a transplant, but even then there's no guarantee of success."

Joanna's family is now urging people to carry donor cards to help others with similar diseases. Mum Jeanne, also of Glenholme Road, said: "If people don't carry a card the hospital needs permission from the next of kin which can take up vital time.''

Her funeral will be held on Friday, at 12pm, at Farsley Parish Church where she married Darren Burnley ten years ago.

Cystic Fibrosis is the most common genetic disorder in the UK and can cause the body's organs or glands to produce mucus which clogs or obstructs them, or passages leading to them. In Joanna's case her lungs were affected and during the last six months of her life she was constantly receiving oxygen through a tube to her nose.

"Being rigged up to the oxygen canisters was a real blow to her pride. She always fought against anything that would make her look different to anybody else," added Simon.

Jeanne said: "She liked doing things most people enjoy, like going out with friends for a drink. She was a happy girl, a real giggler.''

Dr Christine Etherington, who treated Joanna at the CF unit, said: "She was awaiting a transplant and it's a sad fact that the majority these days tend to die because of the lack of donors."

A member of Heaton Amateurs and Pudsey Trinity dramatic societies, Joanna loved to sing and dance in the chorus line.

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