Dying Mother, Ashley Harris Moore, Sends Out A Plea For New Lungs, ‘Without A Transplant I Will Die’ [Video]

A mother is in need of a double lung transplant so she can live and watch her baby boy grow up. She is desperately hoping for “the greatest gift anyone could give.”

Ashley Harris Moore suffers from cystic fibrosis. Unfortunately, Ashley and her family is seeing her health rapidly deteriorate in the last 12 months — she desperately needs new lungs.

The Mirror reports Ashley had just 16 percent lung capacity and she is now dependent on an electric machine to provide oxygen 24 hours a day, according to recent tests that were performed on the 34-year-old’s lungs.

Ashley and her husband Alistair, 34, experienced difficulty in starting a family. For six years they tried to have a child and were fortunate to welcome the birth of baby Emerson in June last year after her sister-in-law acted as surrogate.

Ashley is originally from Texas but she currently lives in London, England.

Ashley talks about her struggles trying to be a good mother in a Daily Mirror interview.

“He’s a gorgeous little thing, very bright and happy and I know he’s going to be my only baby. We had about three or four months together at home after he was born but I began sliding. I wasn’t bouncing back after each hospital stay and I had to come in permanently.

Ashley’s shared more of her concerns of how her deteriorating lungs and health hamper her ability to be the mother she longs to be.

“It’s very frustrating as I already feel like I’m missing so much. Things like taking him to the park and pushing him on the swings, picking him up and carrying him around, laying down with him without the machines. I just want to be his mum.”

Alistair and Ashley first met at a university summer school in London. They married in April 2005. She worked for a mobile health company, and through exercise and diet she was able to manage the condition.

However, her health began to worsen around a year ago, her lungs worsened to the point where she needs to be on machines to help her breathe. In April, doctors placed Ashley on the lung transplant list.

Not knowing when a lung donor may arrive or how long she has left to wait, Ashley describes her life as an agonizing “lottery.”

Some disturbing statistics make her longing and anticipation worse.

According to Cystic Fibrosis Trust, one in three people with the disease die while waiting for a transplant. The charity also cites 30 percent of people are currently signed up as organ donors, even though 80 percent have thought about it.

Of those 80 percent, only half of the would-be donors told their families, which means their wishes could go unheeded after they die.

Ashley said finding the right donor for her lungs would save her family from a terrible end to a story that should just be beginning.

“It’s not just my life but it’s going to be difference between whether or not a boy is in this world without his mother or a husband without his wife. As a family, we’ve still got so much more waiting for us. My husband and I are still madly in love and we’ve got the most gorgeous baby boy. It’s painful and terrifying in equal measure to think I may have to leave him and it’s completely out of my control — but without a transplant I will die.”

Ashley added her thoughts, hopes, and concerns.

“Of course, I want to do anything I can to give myself and my family the best chance possible of staying together, but as a point in wider society I just think, it doesn’t have to be this way. I believe in an opt-out rather than an opt-in system which would save so many lives. But until that happens I would say to people, it’s so easy to do. It’s like flossing it takes a few minutes but it’s even more simple than flossing because you only have to do it once.”

Ashley Harris Moore cried out a plea for lungs, for survival, and for a future with her family.

“If you believe in the butterfly effect, then imagine the amazing direct impact you could make to someone else’s life. Emerson is my world now and what a terrible end it would be for me to leave now, when our story should just be beginning. A donor would be the greatest gift anyone could ever give me and I can guarantee I would never take it for granted for a second.”

More information on becoming an organ donor for Ashley Harris Moore and others is available at Cystic Fibrosis Trust.

[Featured image via Ashley Harris Moore/Facebook]