Amy's precious gift - 'I'LL ALWAYS BE THANKFUL'

The South Auckland nurse received a life-saving lung transplant

- Cloe Willetts

Every March around her birthday, Kiwi nurse Amy Ng-Thomson walks to the peak of Auckland's One Tree Hill, looks out across the city and reflects on how far she has come. Five years ago, she was wheelchair-bound and living on oxygen 24/7, before she received the gift of a life-saving lung transplant.

"I walk it each year because it's a rite of passage, as well as a yearly tribute to my donor and their family, who selflessly agreed to donate their loved one's organs," she says. "The day I got called in to receive my new lungs, my sister looked at me and thought, 'Amy doesn't look like she's going to last much longer. She told me this after my transplant."

Today, the 41-year-old works in the operating theatre as a clinical coach, and as a senior nurse in the quality and risk department at Middlemore Hospital, where she's passionate about providing the best healthcare. She's able to go on dates with her husband Owen, 42, spend time with family and friends, and travel. Most importantly, Amy's finally able to breathe.

"I was 24, married and in my third year of nursing when I couldn't figure out why my hands had got really puffy," remembers Amy. "I needed my wedding rings resized. My shoulder and knee joints were also really painful."

She was diagnosed with the rare and chronic autoimmune disease scleroderma, which meant her immune system was causing her body to mistakenly attack itself. Amy hadn't ever heard of the condition and she jumped on Google.