16 year-old Casey Blunstone was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis when she was only four weeks old. Since then she has spent ten years in the hospital and undergone 20 surgeries. Cystic fibrosis is an inherited disease that causes the lungs and the digestive system to become clogged with thick mucus.

When Casey’s lung function dropped to a dangerous level, doctors told her she only had days to live. She started planning her own funeral as doctors couldn’t find a suitable organ donor for her. But with only a few days left, a match was found: Casey finally received a double lung transplant during a ten-hour surgery.

With her new lungs, the teenager is now looking into a bright and healthy future and doctors expect a full recovery. She says: “When I found out that my transplant could go ahead I was just overwhelmed. I have been waiting so long for a donor that I was in shock at first because I didn’t think it was going to happen.” Before her lung transplant, Casey had to spend 20 hours a day hooked up to a ventilation machine that helped her breathe.

Casey is now encouraging others to become registered organ donors so that more lives can be saved: “The first thing I thought after my operation was that I want people to keep donating their organs. I have been really poorly, but I was given another chance at life and that is all I want for those who are still suffering.”

So far Casey has recruited over 300 people to join the Organ Donor Register.