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 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, of Harwood Close, Tottington, 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 last June, 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. I feel so much better and am looking forward to a happy and healthy year."