'Lucky' Ayla happy to spread the word
BY ILIANA STILLITANO | Camden Advertiser, Australia

LUCKY is the word Ayla Sutherland's family use to describe their brave girl who came within a whisker of losing her life.

The 14-year-old has battled cystic fibrosis (CF) since she was 18 months old when she was diagnosed with the genetic and incurable condition that affects the body's major organs, particularly the lungs, by clogging them with a thick, sticky mucus.

Ayla thought she would reach her 30s before she would have to face the need for new lungs. Instead, the prospect of a lung transplant came much sooner than any of the Sutherlands expected.

Ayla was admitted to The Children's Hospital at Westmead last October for a routine visit. She caught an infection that soon caused her lungs to fail; she was placed on a lung bypass machine for 57 days and her family was told that without a new set of lungs, Ayla would die.

But as she waited on life support for a donor, Ayla's weight plummeted to just 28 kilograms and doctors feared her body wouldn't cope with the operation.

But Ayla proved she was a fighter and when her family received a phone call at 1.30am on the morning of January 22, a wave of relief washed over mum Tina.

"It was a miracle that the lungs arrived at the 11th hour because she was on her way out at that point," she said.

"If she hadn't received an organ, she would now be an organ donor."

On Thursday, after months of rehabilitation, Ayla returned home.

On Friday, she visited Elderslie High School where she is in year 8, and watched almost 1000 students and staff turn the oval into a giant Zumba stage.

The Zumbathon, held on 65 Roses Day which is the national CF awareness day, raised $2500 for CF Australia and raised awareness of another cause close to Ayla's heart — organ donation.

To donate, go to cysticfibrosis.org.au. To become an organ donor, go to www.donatelife.gov.au.