Second cystic sister waiting for new lungs

Kristie Purton with her sister Nikki Reynolds-Wilson who has already had a lung transplant. Photo/File

Kristie Purton is on the active waiting list for a lung transplant.

The mother of three moved across to the list a week ago.

Her sister, Nikki Reynolds-Wilson, had a lung transplant in the middle of last year.

The two women were born with cystic fibrosis.

They became local identities, known as the "cystic sisters", after completing two rounds of 65 good deeds to raise awareness of the condition.

After an eight-hour lung transplant operation on August 10 last year, Mrs Reynolds-Wilson was placed in intensive care for three days. She was then hospitalised for three weeks, followed by three weeks in Hearty Towers in Green Lane for recovery.

She had been on the active waiting list for 18 months.

Mrs Purton said on April 10 it was confirmed she was moved across to the active waiting list.

"As soon as the right donor comes along they will phone me and within two hours they want me on the road to the hospital," she told the Bay of Plenty Times.

She was excited at the thought of the call but nervous at the same time, she said.

"It makes it all so real . . . I want new lungs but I don't because it is my last hope and if anything goes wrong with them . . ."

Life was hard at the moment, she said.

"I can't do anything with the kids, no physical activity any more. I just sit around, which get me down because I was such an active person.

"I have seen what Nikki is like now and she can actually live and do stuff. I can't even go for a bike ride with the kids any more. Those are the things I love. I will be happy to do that again."

Her condition has become increasingly worse over the past three months, with her lungs operating between 20 and 30 per cent.

Mrs Purton was not allowed to go out of cellphone coverage, and has a bag packed ready for the phone call which would change her life.

The sisters would co-ordinate 65 good deeds again this year, she said.