A Highland mother-of-five, who took her name off the register for a lifesaving transplant to raise awareness of her condition by rock climbing, has successfully completed her tour.
More than six years ago, keen climber Lindsay Jarrett was diagnosed with alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency – a genetic condition that affects her lungs and liver.
Earlier this year, the 43-year-old, who is in desperate need of a double lung transplant, stopped taking her medication and took her name off the waiting list so that she to go rock climbing attached to oxygen at sites across the UK.
Miss Jarrett, of Kinlochleven in Lochaber, explained that she wanted to highlight her condition. She also raised more than £1,000 for the Alpha-1 UK Support Group.
And she wanted to “create memories” for her children, Ciara, 25, Jemma, 18, Mia, 10, Rory, 7, and six-year-old Findlay, who are all carriers of the condition. All except Jemma are now showing the symptoms.
Her six-month tour has now come to an end and she is going back on the register – hopefully fitter and better able to face the surgery once a donor can be found.
Miss Jarrett said: “It has been an emotional ride for me. I took a risk this spring and summer, but I do not regret it one bit. We’ve had a ball.
“I met some amazing new friends along the way and my children have had the best time ever.
“I have raised awareness for my condition, Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency, and funds for our support group.
“But, most of all, we have made memories.”
Miss Jarrett added that a transplant appointment in Glasgow a couple of weeks ago left her in no doubt that she need to “go live” on the register again.
She said: “The doctors told me I didn’t have a plan B. A transplant is my only hope and even then it will only buy me time.
“One in five people die during lung transplant operations, another two in five die in the first year after their operation and, if they survive the first year, their new lungs only last about five years.
“Or at least that’s what they’re saying, but I’m planning to beat the stats. The way I see it, if anyone is going to buck the trend it’s me.”
Miss Jarrett is now awaiting dates to go to a hospital in Newcastle for a transplant preparation appointment.
She will then find out where she will be placed on the register.
She said: “It is a window of opportunity. You have to be sick enough to need the transplant and fit enough to undergo the operation.
“I’m starting to tire and weaken just a little, but I’m certainly fitter than I was, so I’m hoping now is the optimum time for me as I’m told there are people with twice my lung capacity who can’t stand up.”