A cystic fibrosis sufferer who was ready to die at the assisted suicide clinic Dignitas changed her mind after hearing five words.
Janka Penther, once a keen surfer, was housebound, barely able to walk and could only breathe through an oxygen tube.
When the chronic lung condition was at its worst, the 35-year-old was so poorly she told her family she wanted to travel to Switzerland to end her own life.
Janka said some days she “couldn’t face living” and even the prospect of future surgery felt hopeless.
But driven by a desire to catch one last wave, the brave restaurant worker battled against the odds.
And placed on the NHS donor waiting list, she eventually underwent a successful double lung transplant.
Describing the moment she found the strength to carry on, she said: “There was a little voice inside my head that would say: Maybe tomorrow will be better.”