5-year-old receives double lung transplant

A 5-year-old British girl who is the youngest person to ever receive a double lung transplant is flourishing nine months after the operation.

Suffering from cystic fibrosis since she was only three months old, Mariam Imran's health had been deteriorating until her record-setting surgery at London's Great Ormond Street Hospital, The Daily Mail said Wednesday. Now her parents, who were once told their daughter had only months to live, are happy to watch Mariam play just like any other child.

"When you look at her you'd never think that she's recently had a double lung transplant," Mariam's mother, Faaiza Dar, said. "The only word to describe everything is 'wow.'"

The 25-year-old also thanked the family who agreed to donate their own loved one's lungs to help a complete stranger.

"I can't imagine what it was like for the family who donated the lungs," Dar told the British newspaper. "It must have been a very hard decision but I want to say a massive thank you."

Copyright 2007 by United Press International