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Transplant survivor Hannah's all heart
SITTING an exam on your 21st birthday wouldn't be most people's idea of fun.
But every moment of life is gratefully appreciated by heart transplant survivor Hannah Pudsey. The Bishop Burton College student, who was celebrating her birthday yesterday, was born with two holes in her heart and a faulty valve.
When she was 13 Hannah was given just six months to live, finally receiving her new heart at Newcastle's Freeman Hospital in 2001, after three false alarms.
Yesterday Hannah, from Nafferton, near Driffield, who wants to be a nursery nurse, was sitting an exam at Bishop Burton College as part of her childcare course.
She developed diabetes four years ago – doctors believe the condition was exacerbated by the drugs she took for her heart – and still has to go to the Freeman Hospital every 12 weeks.
But she says it is a small price to pay.
She said: "I love doing the normal things like getting up to go to college and having a great weekend, but I keep having to pinch myself. These are things most people take for granted, but I never will because I never thought I would live to this age.
"For a few years after the transplant, I was scared to make long-term plans, but now I feel so healthy and can look to the future, like getting married."
The 21-year-old, who won gold at bowls at the British Transplant Games in Sheffield last summer, is looking forward to a big party at Nafferton Village Hall at the weekend with boyfriend Kevin Preston, family and relatives
Hannah, who will qualify as a nurse this June, added: "I am thinking a lot about my donor and their family – without them I wouldn't be here."
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Weather for Yorkshire
Saturday 26 May 2012
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Sunny
Temperature: 9 C to 21 C
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Temperature: 9 C to 22 C
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