An Aston Clinton man is appealing for people to join the organ donor register after his daughter-in-law was told she could die unless she has a double lung transplant.
Emily Icke, 23, has suffered from incurable life-limiting illness cystic fibrosis since she was born. She now needs the help of an oxygen tank, injections of antibiotics and a wheelchair.
Her condition prevents the proper functioning of her lungs. She was in hospital for 13 weeks last year and 10 weeks the year before to get help breathing.
Her father-in-law Simon Icke, 57, of Long Plough, Aston Clinton, said: “She fought against all the odds and came back from the brink.
“Twice, that happened to her – she came back from the edge of death and survived.”
She has now been accepted for a double lung transplant, which would extend her life, but will have to wait until the right ‘match’ for her body becomes available.
Mr Icke wants more people to sign up to become organ donors at www.organdonation.nhs.uk to help people like Emily.
He said: “It is like a guillotine hanging over her every day, but we try and be positive.
“Everyone around Emily tries to be positive, which is easy when you speak to her, because she’s such a cheerful person.”
Emily now lives in Aylesbury’s Buckingham Park with husband David, 27, a former member of football clubs Tring Tornadoes and Tring Corinthians.
Mr Icke said: “For a young woman to endure what Emily has to endure – she’s an incredible example to us all of personal courage in the face of adversity.”
Mr Icke used to be a manager for the Tornadoes and the Corinthians and is a former chairman of Tring Athletic Club – now part of Dacorum and Tring Athletic Club.