A DOUBLE lung transplant survivor from Bradford is marking ten years since he had the life-saving op.

Life for Harrison Smith, now 24, has had its ups and downs since the transplant but he celebrates every day.

Mr Smith who lives with his mum in Larch Drive, Odsal, is now in his second year of an Open University degree in psychology.

After his transplant in 2007, he has beaten cancer twice and spends hours each day on kidney dialysis at home.

Mr Smith, who has cystic fibrosis, had two bouts of post-transplant lymphoma needing specialist treatment at Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital in London after the transplant which eventually meant his spleen had to be removed.

Doctors told him he needed a kidney transplant but a faulty ventricle in his heart means he is not strong enough to have one and he has been having home dialysis since for a few hours every day.

“There’s been a few bumps along the road in the past year,” said his mum Joann McQuillan.

He got sepsus in his dialysis line, had a cardiac arrest while having dialysis at Bradford Royal Infirmary and woke up with memory loss.

“He didn’t know who he was, who I was and couldn’t remember the name of his pet dog but he pulled through like he always does. He never does anything by half. He’s here with us and just keeps going,” and Ms McQuillan, 46.

He also had to endure a 48-hour nosebleed which meant he had to have a blood transfusion.

“He’s a rock and to celebrate ten years since his transplant we are having a party. Harrison loves to cook, he’s amazing at it so will take charge of all the party food, lucky for me,” said Ms McQuillan.

“We’ve no set plans for the future, we live one day at a time and just live it to its fullest, making the most of every day and just getting out and about when we can.”

Family and close friends will be on the party guestlist for next weekend which coincides with bonfire night.

Mr Smith and his mother are also using his tenth anniversary of having a transplant to encourage people to go on the organ donor list.

According to NHS Blood and Transplant, 457 people died waiting for a transplant last year, including 14 children. In May there were 6,414 people on the transplant waiting list, including 176 children. “We’d appeal to everyone who’s not already on the donor list to think about signing up,” she said.