Meet Carly-Jay
Meet Carly-Jay Metcalfe:
This August, Carly-Jay celebrated her 13th ‘Transplaniversary’! The feisty 34 year-old coined the term ‘transplaniversary’ to honour the anniversary of her life-saving double-lung transplant, received on 22 August 1998.
Now a talented writer and boasting a Masters in Creative Writing, Carly-Jay struggles to describe her feelings about her transplant.
“I’m a writer but I can’t put into words, just how much this gift of life means to me,” she says.
“My only hope is that I have used my time wisely, because these lungs aren’t mine. I may not have ‘raised them’, but I’ve been able to honour my donor and their family by respecting and caring for my gift.”
While Carly-Jay has learnt to live well with her CF, her passion for life was severely tested only a few years ago, when she was diagnosed with a very rare form of cancer – and came to close to death in the surgery to overcome the disease.
Carly-Jay is currently writing her memoir, Chasing Away Salt Water, and frequently blogs about her experiences in life. She is also planning on doing her PhD soon.
“My philosophy is that you squeeze the life out of every day,” says the bubbly writer.
“I've packed a lot of living into my life so far,” she says, “but I've got so much living to do!”
