She's fighting a lung infection in hospital - but this Hartlepool woman 'cried happy tears' after reading your messages of support

The 52-year-old who had a heart and lung transplant in April 1986, is being treated for complications with her heart and kidney, and for a serious lung infection.

But despite her illness, she spared time to send a message to Mail readers and admitted she ‘cried happy tears’ after reading their words of encouragement.

And magnificent Mandy also had these words for the people back home.

"I am really overwhelmed with the support of my home town of Hartlepool,” she said. "It was so touching. I was moved to tears.

"Just to let you all know, I have had a rough week but I am at the best hospital. I know I am going to get well again and get back home to Hartlepool.

"Thanks so much to each and everyone of you.”

Earlier this week, we asked Mail readers to send messages of support to a poorly Mandy and you did it in style.

Your words of encouragement called Mandy a ‘lovely lass with a heart of gold’ and ‘Hartlepool’s very own bionic woman’.

One message told Mandy ‘You can get through this girl’ and another said ‘I will pray for you every day’.

Mandy was originally in intensive care at James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough but was transferred to the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle over the weekend.

She is receiving dialysis for kidney problems but her god daughter Sarah Lewis said: “She is in a determined mindset now and is completely focused on getting back home to her family. Any positivity thrown her way can only be a good thing.”

Sarah added Mandy was ‘receiving dialysis for her kidney and is just waiting on an angiogram for her heart so we can see what is going on’.

Mandy has been in the headlines every since she had her double transplant in 1986.

During her childhood, the former Thornhill School pupil found she could not climb stairs and was frequently out of breath, with even the smallest of tasks becoming an effort.

But hope was on the horizon when on April 13, 1986, seven months after her 18th birthday, she became the first person in the region to receive the life-saving gift of a new heart and lungs.

She had the six-hour operation at Harefield Hospital, in Middlesex, following an agonising six-month wait for a donor.

The Mail regularly charted her progress over the following years, with Mandy learning to drive and becoming a godmother and the Mail arranging for her to meet comedy duo Cannon and Ball at Middlesbrough Town Hall.

But after three or four years, her condition deteriorated and she was fighting for breath again and became wheelchair bound.

When medics found that a set of donor lungs were compatible, it is thought Mandy became the first patient to have undergone the procedure following the previous transplant. The Mail reported at the time that Mandy's first words were "I've woken up", as throughout all the trauma of her surgery, her greatest fear had been that she would never wake up.

On her 30th birthday, on September 9, 1997, she was given the best present she could ask for when doctors at Newcastle's Freemans Hospital told her she was making excellent progress.

Since then, she has had a new kidney in 2011.

The messages flood in

The messages of love for Mandy have continued to pour in and here are some more of them.

* ‘Get well soon sweety. You've come so far’ – Kathleen Verrall.

* ‘Hope she gets through this, lovely girl’ – Sharon Weldrake.

* ‘Get well soon Mandy.... You’re a fighter you can do this... Xxx’ – Olwyn Laffin.

* ‘Sending you lotsa love Mandy. Hope you are better soon’ – Irene Sullivan.

* ‘I am absolutely amazed at the battles you have won in your life. You are a fighter and survivor. I am so proud of you. I know it's so hard but please try to keep your positive and fighting spirit’ – Sandy from Ohio, USA.

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