Kelly Young has defied doctors to become the longest-surviving liver transplant recipient.
Now aged 30, she was given just 36 hours to live when she was seven months old. Her school teacher mother Denise stepped in to donate part of her own liver to save her.
Surgeons had told Kelly her transplant would deteriorate and she would not live past the age of 30. But tests have shown the organ is still healthy.
Kelly, from Stonehouse, Glos, said: “My mum’s liver is still going strong. Mum and I have an amazing bond and I’ll always be grateful for what she did.”
Kelly was diagnosed at six weeks old with a condition called biliary atresia, which is where a duct carrying bile from the liver to the gallbladder is blocked.
She said: “I quickly became ill as soon as I was born and got very jaundiced, so they knew something was wrong.
“But it was a shock to Mum and Dad when they were told how serious it was.”
Kelly had an operation at six months old but it failed. A transplant was then the only option and her parents were asked if they would be donors
Kelly, a swimming teacher, said: “They were told there was a new technique where they could use a live donor and take a part of their liver. Mum agreed to do it rather than Dad, who had a job lifting heavy objects.”
Luckily, the pioneering operation was a success and both Kelly and Denise, now 63, made a good recovery.
Kelly has since competed in 18 British and eight World Transplant Games in swimming, badminton and athletics, and has won hundreds of gold medals.
Kelly, who has been with her partner Owen Winstone, a pub supervisor, for three years, has yearly check-ups at King’s College Hospital in London.
She said: “We were told the transplant wouldn’t live past 30 years but tests show there is no sign of it declining.”