Lung transplant woman’s appeal
Thursday, 05 November 2009 15:09
A BRAVE woman living in a village near Chipping Norton has urged people to donate organs to the National Health Service after double-lung-transplant surgery saved her life.
Penny Hart, aged 64, of Swerford, received two new lungs during surgery at Papworth Hospital, Cambridge, in March 2008.
She began suffering from emphysema, a condition affecting the lungs, about 25 years previously because she smoked and had inherited her parents’ lung problems.
Although it made her breathless, Penny lived with the condition for about 18 years.
She consulted her doctor when her condition deteriorated so badly that she could no longer breathe. Her doctor sent her to hospital in Banbury, from where she was transferred to Papworth.
Penny said she would have died without the transplant.
She does not know who donated the lungs or how the donor died.
Penny said: “I know she was a woman but I know nothing else about her because all her details are kept really confidential.
“What I do know is that she had made it clear to her family before she died that if anything happened to her she wanted her organs used for other people.
“I feel unbelievably grateful to her and incredibly grateful to her family because when they were at their worst they allowed it to go ahead.”
Penny is married to Colin Hart and they have a daughter, Lucinda.
She and Lucinda run The Balloon Lady business that supplies balloons, decorations and flowers for parties.
Penny said the transplant had enabled her to do things she was previously incapable of.
She said: “It’s like magic.
“We went for a walk around Blenheim Palace park the other day and that’s about four and a half miles.
“For somebody who could not walk four yards beforehand, that’s a miracle.”
Penny urged people to put their names on the NHS Organ Donor Register and to inform their families so their loved ones know they want their organs donated after they have died.
She said: “Three people a day die while on the transplant waiting list.
“Would you want a transplant yourself if it were the only hope of living?”
To register, visit organdona tion.nhs.uk or call 0300 1232323.
By: Cotswold Journal