A BLAENAU Gwent beautician gave up her wait for a lifesaving lung transplant and told her friends and family: "I have decided to be an angel."

Brave Cystic fibrosis sufferer Kirsty Bridges, 28, from Tredegar, had been in hospital for almost a year on the transplant list before finally refusing any more medical treatment.

Hours before her death, she wrote a goodbye message on Facebook to say: "I love you all but have decided to go be an angel and watch over my beautiful loved ones instead.

"My life would have been so hard even with new lungs in the state I'm in now ... so bye everyone."

Ms Bridges refused any more medical treatment at Llandough Hospital and died within 36 hours.

Writing to her friends on Facebook, she said: "It hurts that someone's got to die and be taken from their family to fix me. It's a very hard thing to wish for.

"I just don't want to suffer no more this life is so hard and I will be so honoured and grateful to receive this gift off such a courageous person who selflessly wanted to be an organ donor just to save someone's life like mine."

Ms Bridges had opened up Couture Make Up Bar in her hometown two years ago and was hoping for a bright future.

She had endured a life long battle with the genetic condition Cystic fibrosis which affects the lungs and digestive system.

Before her death she had campaigned online for organ donation and called for an opt-out system to be introduced across the UK - as has recently been the case in Wales.

Her heartbroken mother Jacqueline Jones said her daughter had been suffering "a life sentence" since she was diagnosed at just three months old.

The mother-of-two said: "She made it to 28 years old. But I've been waiting to bury her since she was just three months old - I'm so grateful for the time we had.

"But in the end after being told she had to be taken off the transplant list due to her antibodies, she decided it was the last straw and time to give up the fight.

"She told me: 'Mum, I'm done. Get the doctor, I want it to be over. I want it to be quick.'

"It was heartbreaking, but I knew it was the right thing to do. The doctor agreed, and took away her feeds, wires and breathing machine. I watched her ebb away, and 36 hours later she was gone.

"She was calm, and all the anxiousness went away. She wasn't angry or frightened - she had accepted it was the right decision because her body was knackered. If I'd asked her to stay alive I would've been acting selfish."