Wednesday, January 07, 2009

Lung transplant woman's four-mile hike for dinner

Louise & Ian Taylor

NEW LEASE OF LIFE: Louise with her
husband Ian and their most treasured Christmas present Louis.

Wakefield Express

A WOMAN recovering from a double lung transplant walked four miles to her mum's for Christmas dinner.

Cystic fibrosis sufferer Louise Taylor, 29, spent the festive period very differently last year – on Christmas Day she had an oxygen tank delivered to the home she shares with her husband Ian, 32, on Barnsley Road, in Flockton.

But with a huge smile on her face Mrs Taylor, who used to be confined to a wheelchair, walked four-miles to her mum’s house to tuck into her Christmas dinner last week.

She said: “The walk was tough going and I had a stop on the way, but it was worth it.

“Being back on my feet has made my family extremely happy.

“It’s just really nice to be able to do normal things with them – that’s one of the things that I’ve missed the most.”

And this year’s most treasured present was a rescue dog, Louis, who they got from the Dogs Trust to help Louise’s recovery

Mrs Taylor said: “My husband used to go out walking and he would come back and tell me all the wonderful things that he’d seen.

“It used to make me upset that I couldn’t go.

“We always wanted a dog, but it would’ve just been too difficult because my husband was caring for me.”

Diagnosed when she was seven years old, life only became a struggle for Mrs Taylor last year after she had been waiting for a compatible lung donor for a year.

But now she feels like a new woman.

She said: “I have my life back and it’s like having a second chance.”

Mr Taylor said: “Anything normal is pretty special to us at the moment.

“One of the things we’ve missed most is camping so we’re really looking forward to being able to go again as soon as the weather improves.”

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