I have Cystic Fibrosis and as long as I can remember have had to take a lot of medication by mouth and nebulisers to keep my lungs well. I have always had to do physio and have been in and out of hospital for intravenous antibiotics (sometimes I complete these courses at home – other times I need to be in hospital for 2 or 3 weeks).

Over the last 12 months my health has deteriorated so that I have ended up spending more and more time in hospital with recurrent chest infections and other complications from my condition.

As hospital stays have increased I was less and less at school so unfortunately having got my AS’s I started but was unable to complete my A’s due to ill health.

Over the last few months the doctors at Belfast City Hospital have been talking about lung transplants and I went over to the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle last month for a series of tests to see if I would be suitable for going on the transplant list.

They have told me that they will consider me for the transplant list if my weight is above 40kg. It is always hard to get my weight up, despite getting extra nutrition overnight via a PEG tube directly into my stomach, as I am often sick.

During this period of WAITING I am working hard to raise the necessary money to build a school in Uganda. I visited Uganda in March 2008 and hoped to go back with my family this year but was unable to due to my health. I loved Uganda and saw how little the children had there. I want to make it possible for some children there to get an education. That way my WAITING will have made their life better.

Thanks to everyone who has and is supporting me in accomplishing my dream.