MICHELLE Giles has been given a new lease of life after becoming the youngest person ever to undergo a double lung transplant at Wythenshawe Hospital.

The 24-year-old, of Harwood Close, Tottington, underwent the complex eight-hour operation after suffering years of chest infections and digestive problems due to cystic fibrosis. She was first offered a transplant at the age of 16 and decided to go on the waiting list three years ago.

Michelle, a former pupil of Derby High School and Bury College, said: "Waiting for the transplant was a hard process, and sometimes I felt like it was never going to happen. When I got the call from the hospital to say that they had the lungs for me I felt strangely calm and confident that the operation was going to be a success."

After the operation, Michelle spent seven days in intensive care and three weeks on the transplant ward before being sent home - one of the quickest recoveries ever following a transplant. She has now turned her life around, joined a gym and, for the first time in her life, started a full-time job working in customer service for the Carphone Warehouse. She said: "Before the operation I could not hold a job down and did not work for five or six years because one day I would feel really well and then the next day feel totally drained, getting coughs and colds all the time.

"It took me a while to get over the operation but now I am really seeing the benefits. I am now holding down a job, which can be hard work and stressful but really good, and doing most things other people can do. My cystic fibrosis treatment continues but I feel so much better and am looking forward to a happy and healthy year ."

The operation took place on June 30 last year.

Mr Nizar Yonan, consultant cardiothoracic surgeon and clinical director of the Transplant Centre at Wythenshawe Hospital, said: "We are delighted at Michelle's rapid recovery. It is extremely gratifying to be able to improve her quality of life so dramatically, particularly as she is very young, active and forward looking.

"It is obvious that this successful operation would not have been possible without the generosity and goodwill of the donor family who allowed their loved one's organs to be given to Michelle to give her a new lease of life. Without this opportunity Michelle would have gradually deteriorated and her future would have been bleak."