Transplant patient Lianne Mofford was today celebrating the first anniversary of her miracle operation.

The teenager, of Humber Close, Didcot, was given the gift of life last year when doctors at Papworth fitted a new heart and lungs.

Before the operation Lianne, who suffers from the crippling lung disease cystic fibrosis, had relied on a 24-hour supply of oxygen and intravenous drugs to keep her alive.

She had weighed just five stone. Even holding a conversation had been a struggle and she was so weak that she would spend her days confined to a chair watching television.

After the operation she told the Oxford Mail: "It takes a bit of getting used to because I can breathe and I can walk into a room and not cough."

Since the operation the teenager, who is now 18, has been able to experience life as a normal youngster for the first time. She has enrolled on a college course and has also been doing work experience.

Lianne owes her new-found freedom to the family of a teenager killed in car crash, who donated the organs for transplant.

She urged everyone to carry a donor card and discuss the possibility of organ donation with their relatives.

Story date: Tuesday 02 March

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