INSPIRATIONAL Stacie Pridden is back on the transplant waiting list, less than two years after she received a life-saving heart and double lung transplant.

The 26-year-old, who lives in Pinehurst, has vowed to battle on after being given the devastating news that she is in chronic rejection and needs another double lung transplant.

In May 2015, Stacie received a heart and double lung transplant after three years on the transplant list. Stacie suffered from pulmonary hypertension – a condition where the right side of the heart is damaged, making it less efficient at pumping blood around the body, and it becomes very difficult to breathe.

Although Stacie initially recovered well from the operation – she was pictured giving the thumbs up in her hospital bed just hours after surgery – she began experiencing problems with her lung function.

Appearing on BBC Wiltshire Stacie said she was grateful that she had another chance at transplant.

“Nine out of ten people can’t go back on the waiting list for various reasons," she said.

"I’m just extremely lucky that I’m still young and that my drugs haven’t had time to destroy my other organs yet. I’m just very lucky to be able to go and have another one.

“I’m still regular old me, I’m just very ill again and I’m using a wheelchair again and I can’t really walk very far. General day-to-day stuff is very hard for me yet again. But I still feel very happy and positive.”

Stacie had used her story to highlight the need to sign up to the organ donor register via TV appearances and her blog Life is Worth The Fight. She said her unrelenting positivity is what gets her through, as she faces going through another risky operation to regain her health.

“Everyone knows when they have a transplant that they will eventually go into some form of rejection,” she said.

“I do have my moments but for me positivity is what gets me through it. I was positive in my first wait.

“I kinda hoped I would reach the five-year average but unfortunately I was one of the unlucky people that went into rejection sooner.

“I think my family find it hard watching me go through it again because this time I’m a lot iller than I was the first time and they’re having to do a lot more for me.”

Stacie was born with three holes in her heart and endured operations every year until she was 13. She is now relying on oxygen and medication while she waits for the call that would change her life for the second time.

Currently there are more than 6,500 people on the UK national transplant waiting list. In Wiltshire there are around 70 people waiting for an organ transplant.

To join the Organ Donor Register visit www.organdonation.nhs.uk