Nicola launches transplant project

Nicola Langlands, 32, of Pevensey Bay, was born with two heart chambers and one valve, half of the heart she should have had.

She was the 12th child in the UK to have the double transplant, which she was given at Harefield Hospital in Middlesex.

A regular visitor to the Observer offices during the late 1980's, the paper chronicled Nicola's wait for a new heart and lungs, and also covered fundraising activities she took part in after the transplant, such as a sponsored swim.

Nicola, now a wife and mother to 10-year-old Megan, said: "Last October I became very ill and was taken in to Harefield again.

"At that time in my life I started to think really hard about the transplant, how it really had affected me and how it would be good to meet and talk to people who have also had transplants.

"So when I got home I set up a website for adults and children who have had a transplant, to help them deal with issues that may pop up after their transplant and, most of all, to make new friends."

"I myself found it very hard to deal with not being able to talk to someone like me who had a transplant, just to know that there was someone out there that was also going though what I went through."

September 17 marks the 19th anniversary of Nicola's transplant and she wants to celebrate by getting more people to join www.lookbeyondtheheart.com, and help her fundraise so she can put posters about the website in all the UK's transplant units.

She eventually wants to register Look Beyond the Heart as a charity, which will cost 5,000, and help to pay for wheelchairs, equipment and days out for members.