Bognor lung transport survivor set to be record holder

Louisa is determined to be the first person who has undergone the life-changing operation to finish the London Marathon.

Her training is well under way for the April 17 occasion when tens of thousands of competitors will be on the starting line.

Louisa aims to be among those who cross the finishing line 26.2-miles later.

“I am confident I will get to the end,” she said. “As to how I get to the end, I am not sure.

“I aim to do a mixture of jogging and walking. I just want to enjoy the occasion and raise money and awareness of cystic fibrosis.

“It will be a real achievement when I finish and I want to let people know what transplants can do for a person’s life.”

The potentially-fatal lung condition of cystic fibrosis had left Louisa, 26, relying on an oxygen cylinder and unable to walk up the stairs of her Chichester Road home.

But a suitable set of lungs became available. They were transplanted into her in 2006.

She soon celebrated the success of the operation by climbing Mount Snowdon.

Her desire to continue improving her fitness and challenging herself led her to consider the London Marathon as her new goal.

She contacted the Cystic Fibrosis Trust which told her it was unaware of anyone with a double lung transplant taking part in the race.

“This year is the fifth anniversary of my transplant and I want to celebrate that,” said bank customer adviser Louisa. “The longer it is since the operation the better your body gets as well.”

She is amassing the miles in training, as well as putting in plenty of gym sessions, with her bank worker colleague, Kelly Davies.

Their training started to become more concentrated after Christmas.

Kelly will also be completing her first marathon and will be running for the Mencap charity.

Emsworth resident Kelly, 31, said: “I’ve run in a few Races for Life and I’ve wanted to take part in a marathon for a long time. It’s been a personal goal.

“My husband ran a marathon in 2000 and has been really encouraging me to enter one.”

Kelly has epilepsy but she said the condition should make no difference to running the marathon.

“I don’t consider it to be a problem. It’s just something I take tablets for every day.

“Louisa and I are going to be supporting each other as much we can so that we can complete the marathon,” she said.

“I’m running for a good cause as well. Mencap is for giving people with disabilities and their carers equal opportunities and everybody should have that.”

Their employer, Barclays Bank in Bognor town centre, will match their fundraising pound for pound up to £750.

Anyone who would like to sponsor Louisa or Kelly should go to www.virginmoneygiving.com/ and enter one of their names.