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Woman told she had a year to live chooses dreams over transplant

A 22-year-old who was told she only had about a year to live has shared her bucket list, for a better chance to live out her dreams.

Channan Petrides has cystic fibrosis, a disease that causes the lungs and digestive system to become filled with mucus.

She described it as feeling like “having a plastic bag over your head and breathing through a straw”.

Ms Petrides was told by her doctors that she had only about a year to live.

After weighing up the risks of an organ transplant, she decided to forgo a new heart and lungs for the chance to enjoy the time she had left and complete her bucket list.

“Nobody could say for sure that the transplant would work, and I wouldn’t have been able to do anything on my bucket list because of risk of infection,” she said in a post.

“If it brought me another twenty years, of course I’d do it, but doctors told me there was a chance I’d die on the operating table or my new organs would fail after just six months.”

Photo: Channan Petrides
Photo: Channan Petrides

After a close call with a severe chest infection, Channan put together her bucket list, and since then she’s checked a lot off it.

It included a helicopter ride, going to the Ed Sheeran concert, ride in a hot air balloon, visit Disneyland in Paris, have a VIP zoo experience and to go viral.

Since sharing it online, her list has gained a lot of attention.

Channan's bucket list.
Channan's bucket list.

Ms Petrides hoped it would give her the opportunity to live her dreams while educating others about her terminal disease.

A Go Fund Me page raising money to help Ms Petrides achieve her dreams has attracted almost 300 donations so far.

Visit Channan Petrides page here: www.gofundme.com/channanpetrides

National news break – June 8