A mum who was given just 24 hours to live after suffering liver failure has celebrated ten years since receiving a life-saving liver transplant.

When Shelly Ashworth, of Trinity Street, Halstead, suffered sudden (acute) liver failure after taking prescribed medication for Rheumatoid Arthritis, she was admitted to Addenbrooke’s Hospital’s intensive care unit, in Cambridge, where her family were told that, without a transplant, she would have just 24 hours to live.

Thankfully, a liver became available, from a 50-year-old man named David, whose family offered the organ to Shelly and she incredibly survived the 12-hour operation.

Ten years on and Shelly is married to Stuart Ashworth, who stuck by her throughout her ordeal, and they have a little girl Indiana Rose Olivia, 3, and have another baby due in March.

Shelly and her family marked the milestone anniversary by raising £12,764.50 for the hospital that saved her life by taking on ten challenges throughout 2013. 

Mrs Ashworth said: “I will be forever grateful to my donor and his family, as their decision saved my life, and he will always be remembered.”

For more information about becoming an organ donor, visit organdonation.nhs.uk or call 0300 123 23 23.

To donate to the fund and for more information about the challenges taken on by Shelly and her family visit justgiving.com/Shelly10years