Published: Wednesday, 11th June, 2008 12:00
Sarah's transplant hopes dashed twice in a month
By Nicola Findlay
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Sarah Murray hopes her third trip to Newcastle will prove lucky.
Pic by: David Robertson
A SAUCHIE woman who is waiting on a life-changing lung transplant is hoping it will be a case of third time lucky.
As previously reported in the Advertiser, 23-year-old Sarah Murray was born with the degenerative disease Cystic Fibrosis and has been on the transplant list for nearly two years.
During this time, Sarah’s health has become progressively worse and just walking a few hundred yards can be too much for her.
However, last month Sarah and her family were given hope when she was rushed to the transplant unit at Freemans Hospital in Newcastle.
She told the Advertiser, “I have been down to Newcastle twice but unfortunately they have been false alarms.
“Both times I was an in-patient at the Western General in Edinburgh. The first time was on the 2 May and at about 10.30 at night the ward staff organised an ambulance to Newcastle with my mum and dad following on in their car.
“Unfortunately when I got to Newcastle’s Respiratory and Cardiology unit the transplant co-ordinator came and told me that my operation had been cancelled because a girl, who was needing a heart transplant more urgently than I was needing a lung transplant, had been admitted.
“Then on 17 May I was taken back down to Newcastle from Edinburgh but I arrived before the organs did.
“The doctors started getting me ready and carried out various tests before I met the surgeon who talked me through the operation. Then just before I was due to have the operation the transplant co-ordinator came in and said that when they opened up the donor they discovered that the organs wouldn’t be any use because they had been contaminated by infection.”
Sarah said that despite having her hopes dashed at the last minute she is remaining positive and is confident that the next time organs become available her transplant will go ahead.
“Going down to Newcastle twice and not getting the transplant has been hard for both myself and my family but I just have to keep my spirits up,” she said.
“Since the two false alarms I have kept in touch regularly with the transplant co-ordinators to say that I am probably in the best shape I am ever going to be for the operation.
“I spoke to them on Friday and they seem hopeful that as soon as they have someone who is compatible with me they will get me back down to Newcastle for the transplant.”
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