A GRANDMOTHER-OF-SEVEN is preparing to take part in the World Transplant Games.

Joan Whitney, 65, from Guisborough, will travel to Ontario, Canada, in July, to compete in the badminton.

Mrs Whitney had a serious heart attack in 1996 and was told six months later she must have a heart transplant to survive.

Surgeons carried out the transplant at Newcastle's Freeman Hospital and she has never looked back.

"I feel absolutely marvellous,'' said Mrs Whitney, who hopes to win medals.

"I am out walking two to three miles every day: I feel so fit. We have seven grandchildren, five of them were born after my transplant.''

Her son and daughter and five of her grandchildren, aged from 15 months to 14 years, live locally and she says they help keep her going.

"My biggest thing is walking. I personally feel much better after a walk. I think it releases the endorphins. Exercise is such an important part of your fitness.''

Her heart donor was a 44-year-old mother of three.

Mrs Whitney says more people should carry donor cards, but that Britain should be on a par with the rest of Europe where it is assumed that anyone who dies will freely allow their organs to be donated - unless they carry instructions which say otherwise.

She also plans to compete in Naples next year.