Audrey’s payback for life-saving op

Jun 16 2009 by Alison Anderson, Perthshire Advertiser Tuesday

METHVEN’S Audrey Ferguson was able to donate a whopping £9300 to LAM Action – the charity which has helped her fight against a rare and incurable lung disease – lymphangioleiomyomatosis (known as LAM).

Audrey is now well on the road to leading a normal life again after undergoing a life-saving lung transplant last August.

She says a miracle pulled her through the ordeal – a miracle fuelled by the faith and prayer of family and friends, 19 of whom recently completed a sponsored walk of the West Highland Way to raise money for LAM Action.

LAM is a disease which affects only women and causes the lungs to waste away.

There are believed to be only 120 LAM patients in the UK.

The disease began to affect Audrey when she was still in her teens, although she had to endure several years of major health problems before she was diagnosed as a LAM patient in 1997, aged only 24.

Audrey, now 36, was desperately in need of a lung transplant, and after eight false alarms, a suitable donor lung became available.

She had her lung transplant at the Freeman Hospital, Newcastle, on August 19 last year and returned home in early October.

Audrey’s health is now vastly improved, but walking the gruelling 95 miles of the West Highland Way would be a step too far for her.

She did, however, catch up with the walkers at Tyndrum to offer her support and gratitude.

“They all did really well,” said Audrey, after her friends completed the five-day hike. “And the fund-raising definitely exceeded my expectations. In fact I think the £9300 raised could be the biggest single donation LAM Actin has ever had.”

For more information on LAM Action visit www.lamaction.org.