A Teesside woman has described the 'unbelievable' life she has been able to experience thanks to a double lung transplant 25 years ago.

Vicky Pettersen, from New Marske, was first listed for a double lung transplant due to cystic fibrosis around the time the NHS Organ Donor Register was created.

Her condition improved, and she was able to come off the waiting list for five years, finally receiving her transplant in 1999.

The 53-year-old said: "When I was born and later diagnosed with cystic fibrosis aged three, not a lot was known and there weren’t a lot of options.

"I wasn’t expected to live beyond my teens. I am 53 now which is just unbelievable. I never thought I’d have 25 years of life because of my donor and their family.

"I hope I can give hope to others waiting for or receiving a transplant, it can give you a whole life."

(Image: NHS Blood and Transplant)

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She is one of more than 14,500 people in the North East and Yorkshire whose lives have been saved or improved by organ donation over the last 30 years.

This Organ Donation Week (September 23 to 29), NHS Blood and Transplant is celebrating the fact that the NHS Organ Donor Register has been helping to save lives for 30 years through the gift of organ donation.

Since the creation of the NHS Organ Donor Register in 1994, more than 100,000 people in the UK have had their lives saved or improved by an organ transplant.

However, more than 1,000 patients in the North East and Yorkshire are still waiting for a transplant.

Anthony Clarkson, director of organ and tissue donation and transplantation, at NHS Blood and Transplant, said: "Every day across the UK there are thousands of patients and their families, waiting for that all-important life-saving call.

"With 1,036 patients in the North East and Yorkshire waiting for organ transplants, it’s more important than ever to register your organ donation decision and make it known to your family."

Only around one per cent of people who die in the UK every year are usually able to donate their organs after death.

Donors are typically those who have died in a hospital intensive care unit or emergency department due to brain injuries, cardiac arrest or other trauma.