For my 21st, I’ll have a huge party, a cake with two tiers and millions of fairy lights. But a stranger has given me the greatest birthday gift of all.. the beating heart that means I’m alive to see this day
When Morgan McComb blows out the candles on her cake next week, she will be celebrating her 21st birthday with the greatest gift she could ever have wished for – a new heart.
The student’s parents are planning a party to end all parties for their daughter as it is a milestone they feared she might not reach. Morgan was diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy aged just 18 and last year her condition deteriorated so much she was told a transplant was her only hope of survival. Confined to a hospital bed, her hopes of a new life were dashed time and time again as four donor hearts that were found proved incompatible
But all that changed in November 2018 when her transplant went ahead on the fifth attempt, giving mum Michelle her a future and allowing her a massive 21, 48 and dad Chris, 46, to plan t birthday bash. Morgan, from Airdrie, says she will be forever grateful to the stranger whose heart now beats inside her. And she is determined to make the most of her second chance at life. She said: “I’m not into big birthday parties but I’m making an exception this year as I have so much to celebrate – I’m turning 21 and I’ve got a full and happy future to look forward
“My mum has gone crazy and ordered a two-tier cake and a ton of fairy lights. There are hundreds of people in my family and they have all been invited. It’s going to be mental. “This time last year, I was so breathless, I found it difficult to dress myself and now I can’t wait to dance at my 21st birthday with my friends. It’s an incredible feeling.” When she was 10, Morgan started to feel