A woman who got a new heart and new lungs six months ago has welcomed record-breaking transplant figures, and urged people to talk to their loved ones about organ donation.

There are still 500 people waiting for replacement organs, despite 2017 being a record year of transplants for Irish patients, when 327 organs were transplanted last year into 321 patients.

Well-wishers have been sending their thoughts across the Atlantic for cystic fibrosis campaigner Orla Tinsley who had a long-awaited double lung transplant in New York on Wednesday night.

Three months ago, she underwent a high-risk double lung and heart transplant after a record 15-year wait.

Brave transplant patient Isabel Terry is said to be in “great form” after being transferred from intensive care to a special ward.

Courageous Isabel Terry has been described as a “warrior” focused on recovery following her double lung and heart transplant operation.

She’s been waiting 15-years for the phone call that could transform her life.

The HSE has refused to comment on why a heart and double lung transplant patient had to rely on a stranger’s offer of the use of a private aircraft to attend a vital medical assessment in the UK.

A Cork woman, who has been waiting for a double lung and heart transplant for 13 years, has launched a campaign to increase the number of organ donors in Ireland, reports Sarah Horgan.

WHEN the call came through last Thursday from the Mater Hospital in Dublin, it offered Isabel Terry the chance to lead a normal life again. The news was good; a suitable donor heart had been found for the 31-year-old who has congenital heart disease.

ISABEL TERRY normally lives for socialising. This New Year’s Eve was different. She was in bed exhausted by 8pm, doing her best to sleep and ignore the text messages coming in from friends at a ball.

ISABEL TERRY has days when her body is wracked with pain from head to toe.