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A woman who felt she was being “suffocated” by her cystic fibrosis – and was told she had been just two weeks away from dying – has climbed Snowdon and run a half marathon after receiving two lungs from a transplant donor. Georgie Cooper, 26, was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis (CF) – a genetic condition which causes sticky mucus to build up in the lungs and digestive system – when she was two. The complaints and compliance officer, who lives in Essex, took medication and used nebulisers – machines which allow you to breathe in medicine – every day. She managed to maintain a “steady” lung function between 70 and 80 per cent until her health started deteriorating in her late teenage years. Cooper said 2018 was “the worst year” because she could not breathe properly and spent four months in and out of hospital as her lung function had dropped to 30 per cent and then to just 9 per cent. She was prescribed Orkambi, followed by Symkevi, to manage the condition. She was told she needed oxygen therapy 24 hours a day, which meant she had “tubes hanging out (her) nose”, and had to use a wheelchair. “It felt like constant suffocation, like I was being suffocated every minute, every second of every day.” Just two weeks before Christmas 2018, when she was 20, Cooper was told she had “a maximum of two years to live” and should consider a double lung transplant. While she waited for a donor, Cooper was prescribed Kaftrio to treat her CF, which she believes kept her alive. Her mother, Lesley, who she described as her “rock”, became her full-time carer and, after three false alarms, Cooper finally received the call that “we’ve got a set of lungs for you”. The surgery in June 2021, at Harefield Hospital in London, was successful – and came just in time. Cooper was told after the operation that her lungs had looked like “pulled pork” due to the CF damage, and she would have only lived for around two more weeks without the transplant. Before her surgery, Cooper had experienced three false alarms about suitable donors, and had started to believe that “to die would be peace”. During this time, she planned her funeral and created a “dream” bucket list – including going abroad again – to look forward to should she survive. She said she tried to stay positive as she knew she only had “a short time left on this Earth”, but found it extremely difficult knowing she was dying. “I had actually written my goodbye letters to my mum, dad, brother, my nan and pa, in case it didn’t work out, or in case I died before my transplant,” she said. She is incredibly grateful that the fourth call from the transplant service was a success. She describes her donor, who cannot be identified, as her “hero”. In August 2022, and after recovering, Cooper climbed Snowdon – now also known as Yr Wyddf and the highest mountain in Wales. She also completed the Bath Half Marathon in October 2023. “Snowdon, at that point, was my greatest achievement,” she said. “I felt like that’s the closest I’m going to get to my donor for now, which was really emotional. Someone else has selflessly given something of theirs to save another life – it’s incredible. She is the greatest hero that I never knew.” Cooper was born with no health complications, but soon developed a persistent cough, which raised alarm bells for her parents. After being referred to the Royal Brompton Hospital when she was two years old, she received her CF diagnosis and started taking medication and using nebulisers and having physiotherapy. While this was “normal” for Cooper, during secondary school she said she was “outed” as having CF during science lessons and her classmates and teachers discussed symptoms and life expectancy. According to the charity Cystic Fibrosis Trust, the median age of death of someone with CF in 2022 was 33. While Cooper was aware of the statistics, she said her peers at school would regularly say: “Oh you’re going to die soon, you haven’t got long left, have you?” Cooper says she cannot believe what she has overcome and achieved since the surgery, having also secured her first job as well as her running and mountain-climbing exploits. She now plans to climb Ben Nevis in Scotland – the highest mountain in the UK. While she still has to take immunosuppressants and struggles with survivor’s guilt, Georgie says she feels she has been “reborn” and now “lives for two people every day”. She was told her donor’s favourite quote was “your mountain is waiting”, which inspired her Snowdon adventure, and she wants to encourage others to “live every day like it’s your last”. She said: “Life is full of tablets, but I’m not having any physio, no nebulisers, and it’s like being reborn – it’s a life I’ve not known and I’m making up for lost time. I owe my life to my donor. She is my hero, she’s the greatest hero I never knew. It’s a gift of life, and that’s the best gift I’ll ever be given.” For more information and support, visit Cystic Fibrosis Trust’s website at: cysticfibrosis.org.uk. For more lung transplant information, visit: cysticfibrosis.org.uk/what-is-cystic-fibrosis/cystic-fibrosis-care/transplant-information-and-resources.

Influencer Caleb Coffee has been hospitalised after falling off a cliff during a hike in Hawaii, according to a GoFundMe page created by his sister. On Thursday 17 August, Coffee’s sister Peyton created the page, where she revealed that her brother is in the intensive care unit with a spinal fracture and broken femur, elbow and wrist. His sister also states that they don’t know the “extent” of his injuries yet, but that they also include “multiple gouges and burns throughout his entire body” According to the GoFundMe, Coffee was hiking with three friends when he “slipped and fell off a 60-80ft cliff onto lava rock”. He was reportedly airlifted to a nearby hospital, with Peyton telling fans that her brother “hasn’t been able to hold down food”. “The medics have informed us more injuries will most likely pop up over the next few weeks…” she added. As of Friday, the GoFundMe has raised $16,000 of its $100,000 goal. Coffee, who has more than 11 million followers on TikTok, updated his followers with a video posted to the platform on Thursday, where he wrote that it’s a “miracle” he’s alive. “Hey everybody, I just want to give a massive thank you to anyone that’s trying to help me or support me right now and I wanted to let you guys know a little update I just found out, that my neck and spine is not broken. Phew,” the TikToker said in the video, which he filmed from his hospital bed. More follows... Read More Schoolboy almost dies from swallowing magnets for TikTok challenge Woman shares honest review of New York City apartment TikTok mom slammed after making 5-year-old son run in 104 degree heat

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I didn’t grow up eating crab, but I absolutely love the sweetness, which you can’t really get from any other seafood,” says former Bake Off winner Nadiya Hussain. “This natural sweetness is quite a wonder and it really does work well cooked with the slight crunch of the green beans and the simple spicing, making it a bhuna I cook time and time again.” Crab bhuna Serves: 4 Ingredients: Oil, for frying 4 cloves of garlic, crushed 2 red onions, finely diced 2 red peppers, finely diced 3 mild red chillies, finely diced 1½ tsp salt ½ tsp ground turmeric 3 tsp curry powder 180g green beans, finely sliced 3 x 145g tins of shredded crab meat in brine, drained Large handful of chopped fresh coriander Method: 1. Start with a large non-stick pan or wok and put it onto the hob over a high heat. Add the oil and as soon as it is hot, add the garlic and cook until golden. 2. Now add the red onion, red pepper and red chilli along with the salt, turmeric and curry powder. Add a splash of water and the green beans and cook till there is no liquid left. 3. Now add the shredded crab meat. As you add the crab meat, make sure you remove any excess moisture. A bhuna is meant to be dry so we want to avoid any excess liquid. Cook with the lid off over a high heat for 10 minutes. 4. Take off the heat, add the chopped coriander and mix through to serve. Saag aloo chicken jalfrezi “This is the kind of dish that you often see being served up at an Indian restaurant and while it may look complicated, it doesn’t have to be at all,” says Hussain. “This is like the Bengali stir fry you never knew you needed. It’s spiced, fast and a feast for the eyes.” Serves: 4 Ingredients: Oil, for frying 3 dried red chillies 4 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced 400g tin of cream of tomato soup 1½ tsp salt 4 tbsps brown sauce 4 tbsp art masala mix 2 red onions, quartered 2 red peppers, cut into large chunks 560g tin of potatoes, halved 200g cooked chicken 80g fresh baby spinach Handful of fresh coriander 2 spring onions, thinly sliced For the art masala mix: 28g cardamom pods 3g bay leaves 34g fennel seeds 100g cumin seeds or ground cumin 38g ground cinnamon 100g ground turmeric 44g chilli powder 200g curry powder Method: 1. To make the art masala mix, use a spice grinder. Lots of smoothie-makers also come with a milling blade that works well to really crush down these whole spices. Put the cardamom pods in the grinder, husk and all. Whack them in and blend to a fine powder, then pour out into a large bowl. Now put your bay leaves, fennel and cumin seeds into the same grinder and blitz to a powder. If your grinder is small, you can do each spice alone, but just note that when doing the bay leaves, always blend them with the fennel seeds. They need the seeds to get them moving enough to crush to a powder. Add to the bowl. Mix thoroughly, being sure to do this after each addition as it’s important to make sure that the mix is well-blended. Now for the cinnamon. I prefer to use ground cinnamon as it’s readily available and will save you from having to crush something quite hard – why should we if we don’t need to? Add to the bowl and mix. Chuck in the ground turmeric and mix. Add the chilli powder and mix. Lastly, add the curry powder and give everything a good stir. Transfer into a jar or jars and you are ready to go! 2. Put a large non-stick frying pan or wok over a high heat and drizzle a good amount of oil into the base. Throw in the dried red chillies and toast in the oil until they swell up. Lower the heat, add the garlic and toast till it turns a deep golden brown. 3. Pour in the tin of cream of tomato soup, add the salt, brown sauce and art masala mix and cook till the liquid thickens and is reduced by half. 4. Add the red onion, red pepper, tinned potatoes and cooked chicken and stir in the sauce on a really high heat until everything is coated in the sauce and catching on the base of the pan. Take off the heat and stir in the spinach until just wilted. 5. Serve the curry immediately with the coriander and spring onion sprinkled over. Milk fudge flapjack “This includes two of my favourite things and I have made their worlds collide,” says Hussain. “Flapjack – sticky, sweet and oaty – topped with a spiced Indian milk fudge. Why have one world when you can build a bridge between two?” Makes: 12 Ingredients: For the flapjack: 250g unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing the tin 180g golden syrup 180g caster sugar 500g porridge oats 2 tsp almond extract For the milk fudge: 60g unsalted butter 200ml double cream 60g caster sugar 6 cardamom pods 100ml condensed milk 250g semi-skimmed milk powder, blitzed in a processor to remove any lumps 100g toasted almond flakes Method: 1. For the flapjack, start by putting the butter, golden syrup and caster sugar into a pan and warming it all through until the butter has melted and sugar dissolved. Take off the heat. 2. Preheat the oven to 160C fan and line and grease the base and sides of a 20cm square cake tin. 3. Add the oats to a bowl, pour in the melted butter/sugar mix and add the almond extract. Stir the mixture till everything is well combined. Tip into the prepared tin and flatten, making sure to pat down so everything is well compressed. 4. Pop into the oven and bake for 30 minutes. When the flapjack is ready, it will be golden around the edges and lighter in the centre. Take out and leave to cool completely, then chill in the fridge so we have a firm base for our fudge to sit on. 5. For the milk fudge, put the unsalted butter, double cream and caster sugar into a pan and mix till the sugar has dissolved. 6. Crush the cardamom pods, remove the husks and crush the black seeds. Add to the sugar mix. Stir in and then add the condensed milk and semi-skimmed milk powder. Bring to a gentle simmer over a medium heat and keep stirring till the mixture is thick and coming away from the sides of the pan. 7. Spoon the mixture right on top of the flapjack and press into an even layer. Sprinkle over the toasted almond flakes and press them in. 8. Leave to cool in the tin and then leave to chill in the fridge. Cut into squares and they are ready. ‘Nadiya’s Simple Spices’ by Nadiya Hussain (Penguin Michael Joseph, £26). 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