AN inspiring leukaemia survivor who scooped a clutch of gold medals at this year’s British Transplant Games has featured in a charity exhibition.

Teenager Beth Morris was 17 months old when she was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia.

After two years of chemotherapy she went into remission but at the age of four she relapsed and her parents were told she had a slim chance of survival.

Her best chance was to have a bone marrow transplant and in 2002, aged five, a match was finally found and the transplant went ahead.

Now aged 18, Beth won four gold medals in cycling and swimming at this summer’s British Transplant Games in Bolton and was also awarded Best Adult Female.

She attended the World Transplant Games in Australia in 2009 and Durban in 2013 and begins a degree in wildlife conservation and zoo biology at Salford University this month.

Beth is one of 18 post-transplant patients featured in After, an exhibition of life-affirming images commissioned by charity Anthony Nolan to mark Blood Cancer Awareness Month.

She also features on the front cover of a book about the exhibition, which shares the stories of the patients who have all had life-saving stem cell or bone marrow transplants.

Beth said: “I have some memories of my transplant, but a lot of them are things that people have told me so it all blurs into one.

“I do remember that when I was really ill, my mum was very upset. So I stood up on the bed, went over to her and said ‘mum, I’m going to get better’.

"After my transplant I wasn’t allowed to swim because of my low immune system but I really wanted to learn so I could go and swim with dolphins in Florida.

“When I was ready, I started lessons and the instructor we found was also a teacher in a squad and that was it really, I’ve never stopped since.”

The pictures, captured by photographer Stephen Pennells, were exhibited at the Menier Gallery in London from Thursday to Saturday last week.

Other patients featured in the book and exhibition include Simon Bostic, the first person to have a bone marrow transplant from an unrelated donor.

Beth, from Stoneclough, added: “I’ve been given this gift of life, this second chance. I don’t intend to waste it.

“I hope that by being 18 and doing all the things I have, I can prove to people that anything and everything is possible.

"Just because you’ve had a transplant doesn’t mean you can’t do amazing things. You can do amazing things because you’ve had a transplant.”

Henny Braund, chief executive of Anthony Nolan, said: “Every day I’m bowled over by the strength of our patients, who wait without complaint for matching donors, who endure tough treatment in preparation, and who then slowly embark on their journey to recovery.”