Sunday Mirror (Northern Ireland)

‘Lungs in box’ miracle that saved my life

- BY MARTYN HALLE and AMY SHARPE EXCLUSIVE BY ALAN SELBY alan.selby@mirror.co.uk

THE first British person to have a “lungs in a box” transplant has told how the pioneering machine saved her life.

Cystic fibrosis sufferer Shanice Moncur was near death when she was offered lungs rejected by four transplant centres.

Surgeon Marius Berman improved the unhealthy donor organs at the Royal Papworth in Cambridge via an Organ Care System.

The US-made machine helps keep lungs alive while allowing infection, excess fluid and clotting to be eliminated.

A year after her op, Shanice, of Darlington, Co Durham, says: “It’s amazing. My lungs would have gone to waste but they’ve saved, and changed my life. I’m so grateful.”

LOVE Island stars are promoting a buy now, pay later firm that has been accused of luring young people into dangerous debt.

Maura Higgins, who made last year’s final, and 2018 contestant Eyal Booker have both used Instagram to plug Klarna.

The credit site offers short-term finance to spend at outlets such as

Asos, Boohoo, Missguided and Topshop. Maura has promoted Boohoo and Eyal has advertised clothes from Hollister. Both suggest it’s possible to “buy now, pay later” with Klarna.

The Boohoo website features plugs for PAY LATER PLUG Stars Maura & Eyal

Love Island, with collection­s from former contestant­s. Meanwhile other Islanders – Ellie Brown, Laura Anderson, Rosie Williams, Hayley Hughes, Charlie Frederick and Kieran Nicholls – have attended events run by Klarna.

The promotions emerged ahead of Love Island’s return to ITV2 tonight.

Debt charity StepChange claims Klarna encourages shoppers to spend what they can’t afford – and says Islanders and shopping sites should be upfront about the penalties for missing payments, which can lead to bad credit scores and threats from debt collectors.

Spokeswoma­n Sue Anderson said: “Those promoting buy now, pay later services need to encourage people to make a properly informed choice, rather than simply seducing them by the promise of convenienc­e.”

Klarna said collectors are only used if a debt is not paid for “several months” and credit scores are affected if “the debt remains unpaid beyond this point”.

Representa­tives for Maura and Eyal did not respond.

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