JUST a year ago, cystic fibrosis sufferer Charlie York was clinging to life, his only hope of survival an urgent lung transplant.

Now he is a healthy, happy 11-year-old who even won the 100m race at his school sports day, thanks to a life saving lung transplant carried out last July at London's Great Ormond Street Hospital.

The agonising decision faced by his parents Christy and Sasha as to whether he should have the very risky transplant as their son's condition rapidly deteriorated will be shown on BBC Two's Great Ormond Street next Tuesday in an episode called Fight to Breathe.

A month after being put on the transplant register, they received the call that donor lungs were found and Charlie was quickly transferred from his home in Long Marston to York Racecourse where he was flown by RAF helicopter to Regent's Park.

Christy said: "After the operation he was unconscious but his colour had changed. His lungs were immediately working. He had a pink colour to his cheeks because he was breathing properly for the first time in years.

"Without sounding clichéd, he was drifting away from us and now he is like every normal child."

Charlie was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis - an inherited condition in which the internal organs, especially the lungs and digestive system, become clogged with thick sticky mucus - as a baby and despite having to embark on a daily regimen of pills to improve his digestion, Charlie was a happy child who was otherwise healthy until the age of two.

But then he started getting chest infections, which became more frequent. His weight began to plummet and then he became infected with the bug Mycobacterium abscessus. This is particularly dangerous for CF patients because it is very difficult for them to fight it off.

Despite treatment, Charlie's lung function deteriorated from a capacity of 40 per cent to just 24 per cent, and he was in and out of hospital every couple of weeks and was reliant on oxygen most of the time.

Charlie's family are extremely grateful to the donor and their family and have called for an "opt out" system in which people are immediately signed up to the organ donor register unless they opt out.

Christy said: "Without an opt out system you are asking grieving relatives if doctors can take organs - it's very difficult.

"We were incredibly lucky to get the offer so quickly."

  • Great Ormond Street: Fight To Breathe will be broadcast on BBC2 at 9pm on Tuesday, July 21.
  • To join the organ donor register, or for more information, visit www.organdonation.nhs.uk/