She lived with a debilitating liver disease for more than 20 years.
Now Rastrick mum-of-three Corinne England, 60, has been given a new lease of life thanks to a vital organ donation.
Doctors discovered Corinne was suffering with incurable primary biliary cirrhosis back in the early 1990s.
She managed the condition, which affected her immune system, with tablets for 15 years, but knew one day her health would deteriorate.
Her fears became real five years ago when the medication stopped working and jaundice set in.
“I was tired all the time,” she said. “I could sleep for 20 hours and I was changing colour to a yellowish orange.
“I was mentally confused a lot and just walking down the street was horrendous. I was in chronic pain.”
Corinne was monitored monthly by doctors at St James’ Hospital, Leeds, and was put on the transplant waiting list in early 2012.
She said: “You can’t go anywhere as they ask you to be within two hours of the hospital at all times.
“You’re always waiting for the phone call. It’s horrendous. For the first six months every time the phone went I thought: ‘Good grief, is this it?’
“The awful thing is you know somebody has to die for you to live.
“As time goes on you think it’s not going to happen and you start planning for the end.
“It’s no way to live and this is what the thousands of people on the waiting list are going through.”
But earlier this year Corinne finally got the call that saved her life and made the wait worthwhile.
She received a new liver in an eight-hour operation and is now feeling the best she has in years.
“It’s surreal,” she said. “Your life is in their hands.
“I’m getting stronger each day and at last I can finally look to the future.
“People see me and they say: ‘Are you sure you’re the same woman?’
“I would encourage more people to sign up to the organ donor register as it’s saved my life.”
