A CRAVEN woman has been given the gift of life after undergoing a successful double lung transplant at the weekend.

The operation ends three years of anxious waiting for the family of Katherine Ireland, 21, of Cononley.

Cystic fibrosis sufferer Katherine has seen many of the friends she made in hospital die waiting for their own lifesaving lung transplant.

But her parents David and Jan told the Herald their daughter was "doing wonderfully" after being rushed into Newcastle's Freeman Hospital on Saturday.

"She's doing so well, it's just wonderful. It's like a miracle," said Jan. "Doctors told us she would be in intensive care for a few days, but she's already been transferred to a normal transplant ward."

Katherine's disease meant she got out of breath easily and found walking up and down stairs difficult due to her lungs' inability to absorb oxygen into her body.

She had to spend several hours each day linked to an oxygen bottle as well as taking drugs in an effort to control the disease.

She carried a pager around with her everywhere she went in case a suitable lung donor was found.

Katherine and her family have been ardent campaigners for the carrying of donor cards and took part in the Herald's recent successful campaign to highlight the nationwide donor register.

Doctors contacted her on Saturday night to say they had found a donor. She went into theatre at midnight for her own lungs to be removed and the donor lungs put in their place as part of a six-hour operation.

"We went to see her on Sunday morning and she waved at us through the airlock in the ward," added Jan. "Doctors told us she was as well as she could have ever been before they attempted the operation."

Jan described getting the call and rushing Katherine to hospital as "like acting in a play".

"It was like it was happening to someone else," she said. "We'd had a call before but Katherine was on antibiotics at the time so she couldn't have the operation."

Doctors have told the family that Katherine's oxygen levels in her body are now at 100 per cent.

"She's breathing like she's never done before in the last 18 months," added Jan.

"We got to the stage where we thought it wasn't going to happen because Katherine has lost so many friends waiting for transplants and we thought it was going to be the same for her.

"But now she's going to be able to do things that she's not been able to do for a long time - in fact she can live a normal life."

A fundraising Valentine's dance at Cononley Institute tonight (Friday) in aid of the Cystic Fibrosis ward at Seacroft Hospital has now turned into a celebration for the Ireland family and their friends.

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